Jack to the Future
by SmittyChittyBangBang
Summary: Jack is accidently sent 20 years into the future and discovers what becomes of the “Legend” of Captain Sparrow. Can he find a way to return to the past in time to save his future?
1. Lighting Strikes

Hello again everyone! I finally finished Commodore Sparrow, and proudly present Jack to the Future for your reading pleasure. Though Commodore Sparrow is mentioned a few times, you don't have to read it to understand anything in this story (but feel free to read it if you haven't!) Once again, Jack is flung into another insane situation that he has to find his way out of, hopefully with lots of humor and excitement along the way. Well then, without further ado...

**Jack to the Future**

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

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"Well, this is just lovely." Jack managed to get out between mouthfuls of salt water. The Black Pearl was in the middle of a rather angry tropical storm. The captain had been through several, he could steer through them with his eyes closed, and this one didn't seem any different-yet. He had been rather paranoid as of late however, as one with a greenish tint had somehow caused him to switch places with Commodore Norrington and more or less flipped the entire universe on it's backside. So, it was safe to say that he had good reason to be a little concerned. This storm seemed to be of the regular variety, however. No weird colors or three story waves.

After a good long battle, the storm finally realized it was no match for the Black Pearl. At least, this is what Jack reminded Gibbs after they had gotten through the thick of it, as he did after every storm. Gibbs in turn responded with an eye-roll and the customary , "Aye, Capt'n"

Although the wind had died down and the large waves nearly ceased, thunder still echoed in the sky, and the visibility was poor. This may have explained why the Pearl nearly rammed into a ship that was being tossed around on the shrinking waves.

Jack, still manning the helm, took evasive action to steer the Pearl away just in time and let loose with a string of obscenities that would make any self-respecting sailor's ears bleed. "What in the bloody hell was that ship doing there?" Jack yelled, flinging both arms in the direction of the ship in case any of the crew members missed the vessel about 20 feet in front of them. The sharp turn Jack had taken in order to avoid the ship brought them right next to the vessel.

Jack would have loved to give the captain of the vessel a piece of his mind, but unfortunately for him, there wasn't a captain. In fact, as the Black Pearl sailed next to the strange ship, the crew didn't see a single soul aboard. An abandoned ship in the middle of the Caribbean would have been strange enough in itself, but the vessel itself was quite extraordinary. It was small, slightly smaller then the Interceptor, and it's surface had a silver, almost metallic quality to it. Jack couldn't tell if it was painted, or the wood itself, but he had ever seen anything like it. The sails and anchor were up, and it wasn't flying any colors.

Gibbs rushed up to the helm to join Jack, already staring down intently at the ship. "What do ya think Captain? Pirates?" Gibbs asked, slightly out of breath.

"There's no damage. No sign of a conflict." Jack said, scrutinizing the ship through narrowed eyes.

"Well, the crew could have surrendered without a fight."

"And then up and disappeared?"

"Captured? Killed?"

Jack's eyes narrowed even further until he was nearly squinting at the pristine vessel bobbing below them. "I don't think so."

"Then, what is it doing here?"Gibbs asked, more as a rhetorical question the anything.

"No idea. Which is why we're going to go have a look."

The first mate straightened at the sound of his question being answered and whirled to face his Captain. "What? Jack are you sure? It could still be dangerous"

Jack furrowed his brow and swung his head in his first mate's direction "Gibbs, we're pirates. Danger is in the job description." He placed a hand on his own chest. "Being Captain, I shall put it upon myself to investigate."

The Pearl was maneuvered until it was alongside the other vessel, and set a plank across to the mystery ship. The waves were still rocking the two ships slightly, and it was a rather steep decline since the deck of the vacant ship was much lower then the Pearl's, but Jack made it over to the other ship with a speed and grace that never ceased to amaze his crew.

Jack leapt off the plank and scanned the ship, finding it to be even stranger then anyone had previously thought, if that was possible. The deck of the ship was completely bare. No guns, no crates, no barrels. The masts towered above Jack as he stared skyward. They seemed to be even taller then the Black Pearl's despite the obvious difference in height of the two ships. Jack headed back up to the helm of the ship, noticing the simple elegance of it as he went. It wasn't particularly ornate, but it looked as though years of work were put into each detail.

When he reached the helm he noticed something next to the ship's wheel. He headed over to find a large compass was mounted right next to it. Jack had never seen such an intricate and beautiful compass in his life. He would studied it a bit more closely, but he had a sudden urge to get back to his ship. Though beautiful, the ship had a very unnerving quality to it.

Jack took the stairs down to the main deck a few at a time and headed towards the plank when he noticed something strange about the main mast. He took a few steps toward it, and gave it a tentative knock with his fist to confirm his suspicions. Gibbs noticed him scrutinizing the mast from the deck of the Pearl.

"What is it Capt'n?"

"The mast! It's covered in metal!"

Gibbs jammed a finger in his ear and shook it vigorously. "Come again?"

"METAL! Why in God's name would you plate a mas-"

Jack wasn't able to finish his sentence however, as a bolt of lighting burst forth from the sky and struck the main mast. After a flash of blindingly intense light and a crack of thunder that shook the Pearl, the crew recovered from the shock and stared in the area that Jack and the ship had been, only to find the empty ocean, steam rising from the waves.

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Alright, the lightning might be a _slight _reference from Back to the Future, but we'll just call it "paying homage to" since rip-off is such a harsh term! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!

Next Chapter: Tortuga


	2. Tortuga

Sorry this chapter took a bit longer than I would have liked, but I have a busy weekend and a flu to thank for that!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em

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Jack had been on ships when lightning had struck before, though it was certainly rare. He remembered the initial shock of the strike, and the way the air felt afterward, though even he, who never found himself at a lack of words, would have trouble describing it. Though he had witnessed it before, he had never been anywhere near this close, and he would have been perfectly happy to never be again.

The force of the lightning traveling down the mast caused Jack to be hurled backwards and land spread-eagled across the deck. When he came to shortly thereafter, his ears were ringing, his eyes stung form the brightness of the lightning, and his hair was standing on end.

"Who plates a damn bloody mast in metal? " Jack mumbled to himself, his voice sounding muffled and distant. "No wonder it's abandoned! No one in his right mind would sail this!"

He looked skyward to see the dark clouds starting to dissipate and top of the mast smoking slightly.

Jack groaned and slowly got up. No doubt his crew was terrified that their captain had perished in the spectacular incident. Surely no one could have survived such a thing. He finally stood and faced his ship, eagerly anticipating the looks on his crew's faces when they saw him alive, only to find empty ocean in their place.

"How long was I out for?" Jack struggled to get up to the helm of the ship for a better view, but the Pearl was nowhere in sight. He looked down at the compass that was next to him. Twenty degrees north by northwest. He then noticed something he missed when he examined the instrument earlier. There was a set of four numbers, each one on a wheel and able to move independently of each other. It looked like a sort of 18th century odometer. Jack glanced down at the numbers and furrowed his brow.

1745.

1745? What the hell was that supposed to mean? As the ship slowly shifted direction, he noticed the five slowly rotating forwards. He would have watched longer, but there were slightly more important matters to attend to, such as the location of his ship and crew.

He quickly came up with a few theories on their absence.

Theory one: They thought the lightning bolt had killed him, and had left him for dead.

Theory two: They were playing a joke on him.

Theory three: The lightning had scared the bejeezus out of them and they had made a run for it.

Regardless of what happened, all theories lead to the same outcome: Tortuga. The Pearl had been close to the island when they encountered the ship, and it was obvious that was where they would head.

As Jack finished running all the options through his head one more time, there seemed to be only

on logical course of action. Steer this blasted ship into Tortuga by himself and keelhaul every last one of his crew. He stared at the ship's wheel.

"Well, thank God I'm not in my right mind."

It took all of Jack's skills as a sailor to bring the ship into Tortuga's port by himself, despite the fact that the Pearl and the mystery ship were relatively close to it. When he told Will he couldn't bring the Interceptor into Tortuga by himself, he wasn't being completely dishonest. Fortunately, Jack knew more about what was on a ship then was in his own hair. After some initial struggling, he managed to finally reach the island.

He noticed as he sailed into the sheltered bay that the Pearl was no where to be found. Anger gave way to confusion as he scanned the bay for the familiar black sails. Were they out looking for him?

After he managed to anchor the vessel, Jack finally took a look up at the town. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. Something seemed different. He couldn't put his finger on it at the moment, but he sensed something about it had changed.

After several minutes and more then a few choice curse words, Jack managed to get a small rowboat in the water and made his way into the town. As he climbed up the shore and entered the city, he was now certain that there was something different about the town. He swaggered through the quiet streets and then noticed it: quiet. Although there were the few obligatory drunks stumbling around and a few "ladies of the evening" leaning lazily against barrels and railings, the town seemed like a shadow of its former self.

He decided to head to the first place we usually headed when he visited Tortuga, The Faithful Bride. By now the thought that something may have happened when the lightning stuck the ship, was slowly creeping into his brain, and he desperately was in need of some familiar surroundings.

Unfortunately for Jack, familiar surroundings were not to be found. A stable was sitting where the Faithful Bride had always resided. Jack's eyes went wide. There was no way this could have happened in such a short amount of time. He had been here less then a month ago.

Thinking he must have made a wrong turn somewhere, Jack looked all around his to see if he could regain his bearings. It was then that he noticed it. Hanging above the stable entrance was a

sign, rocking gently in the breeze, its paint peeling and flaking.

Smith Sons Stables

EST:1735

Jack stared at the sign a few moments, trying to remember the year. He knew it had a two in it. Ah yes, 1725. He then looked back up at the sign, and then out to the silver ship resting in the harbor, then up at the sign again once more, for posterity.

While continuing to stare at the sign he stopped a drunk passing by and bluntly asked, "What year is it?"

The drunk, even in his advanced state of inebriation, gave him a strange look. " 'S uh . . . seventeen forty . . . five." He finished, looking slightly proud of himself for remembering before stumbling on.

Now, a lesser man (or a man who had been exposed to slightly fewer supernatural occurrences) may have panicked, or simply lost his mind. Jack, however, knew exactly how to handle the situation. After a few moments staring out at nothing in particular, he slowly sank down into the street, muttered, "Fan-bloody-tasic.", And waited in the middle of the road for a carriage to run him over.

While he lay spread out in the middle of the road for a team of horses to trample him, he suddenly made a connection in his brain that caused him to sit bolt upright so fast that his beads whacked him in the face after they had caught up with him. The ship's compass. The dials had read 1745 right after the lighting struck. Twenty degrees north by northwest. Twenty years in the future. Well then that was it, then. Find another storm, get near some lightning, and "steer" the ship into the future.

But first, it wouldn't hurt to have a little look and see what the future held in store. . .

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I have no real idea what year the film took place in, but I've heard from a few places it was around the 1720's, so I went with that. As always, please review and tell me what you thought! Oh, and the next chapter should be a bit more exciting.

**Next Chapter:** Captain Jack's "Legacy"


	3. The Legend of Captain Sparrow

**Disclaimer**- Nope, not mine.

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It took Jack a good deal of time to find a decent tavern in the future Tortuga. The once raucous and wild town had subdued substantially. Jack barley recognized anything, and he eagerly wanted to ask someone what had been going on. He finally found a small, rundown tavern, and grabbed a seat at the bar.

After grabbing a seat Jack got the barkeeps attention and ordered rum. The barkeep scrutinized Jack carefully as he handed the drink over to the pirate.

"What ship you from?"

Vaguely remembering the letters elegantly scrawled on the back of the ship as he had rowed around the ship, he mumbled, "T-the Lorean"

"De Lorean?"

"Aye, the Lorean."

"I didn't tink de Lorean actually existed. I've heard stories about dat ship."

Jack finally looked up at the barkeep. "You have? "

Jack eagerly awaited to hear what the barkeep knew about the ship, but when he looked up at him, the bartenders focus seemed to have shifted. "Wow, has anyone eva told you dat you look just like Jack Sparrow? Back when he was Captain of de Pearl, dat is."

Jack's eyes went wide. "What?'

"De old pirate captain. You look just like him. He used to come in here all da time."

Jack was floored _"Used to be? Was?" _He shook his head as if to clear out the confusion he was feeling, and finally stammered "I-he's not captain anymore?"

"Not for 'bout 18 years now."

Jack spat a mouthful of rum over the bar "WHAT!"

"It's a sad story. Dat man struggles ten years to get his ship back from his mutinous first mate, and den as soon as he gets it back, it was taken again, and he was never da same after. Some say he was lucky to have escaped alive, but if you ask me, he died dat day. God rest his soul"

Jack swallowed hard and stared wide eyed at the barkeep. "You-you mean he's..."

"Dead? Aye."

Jack went deathly pale and stared right though the bartender. He had briefly entertained the idea of running into his future self before going back, but had decided it may further screw up the whole space-time continuum thing, which he was fairly certain he was doing a good enough job of messing up as it was.. He had decided instead to go to the tavern on the off-chance that someone was telling a story of his latest escapade. He hadn't even thought about someone telling him of his own demise. He had to know what had happened.

"So, ah how did I-uh-Captain Sparrow finally meet his end?" Jack tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible." Duel with the world's greatest swordsman on a mast during a storm? Spectacular sea battle between a rival pirate ship? Up against another army of undead pirates?"

The barkeep stared deadpan at him for a moment before bursting into laughter so sudden and thunderous that it caused the pirate to instinctually throw his hands up and nearly fall off his bar stool. He gave the barkeep a dirty look that apparently went unnoticed as the man was still howling with laughter. He finally settled down, wiping a tear away.

"Aw ol' Jack. After he lost de Pearl, he jus' didn't have da heart to sail anymore. He met his end by de bottle."

"He...drank himself to death?"

"No, he literally was killed by de bottle. Got so excited to drink one night he accidentally forgot to uncork it. Poor bastard choked to death. "

Jack stared at the barkeep for a full minute before he finally managed to sputter. "I...was...killed...by a BLOODY CORK?"

The barkeep's eyes widened at the man in front of him, who, as far as he knew, had just completely lost his marbles .

Jack had now gotten off of his seat and was pacing around the room as he spoke."Captain Jack Sparrow, the most feared pirate in the bloody Spanish Main, was killed by a CORK!"

The barkeep backed away from the bar a few paces thinking, not quite sure what to do.

Jack suddenly stopped mid-step, whirled around and stared directly at the barkeep, who looked like he wanted to disappear.

"Where's the Pearl?"

"L-last I heard it was in Port Royal"

Jack stalked out of the bar, a man possessed. He had to get to Port Royal, find out what had happened to him, and go back and stop it before it did. He probably would have marched right down to the ship that very moment and sailed all the way to Port Royal himself, if he hadn't happened to glance up at yet another sign as he walked past. The sign stopped him dead in his tracks and made him feel as though he had just been kicked in the gut.

W. Turner

Smithy

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Poor Jack! Sorry this chapter took a while longer then I hoped, but it was my birthday this weekend. Why, what would I like , you ask? How about a review! You don't even have to wrap it! As always, I love the input, and you can tell me if you caught the not-so-subtle Back to the Future reference I snuck in there!

Next Chapter: Will's Tale of Woe


	4. The Ghost of Captain Sparrow

Congrats to OpraNoodlemantra for noticing the DeLorean reference (for those of you who haven't seen Back to the Future, it is the time machine. That's also the reason the ship appears silvery) Congrats also to Mrs Capt Jack Sparrows who noticed the space-time continuum reference, which I had forgotten about! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em

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Jack burst into the dusty Smithy to find a figure passed out on a chair. Jack decided if Mr.Brown and Bootstrap Bill had somehow had an illegitimate son, this would be what their love child would have looked like. His lip curled up in disgust at the figure in front of him. The middle aged man was leaning so far back in the chair we was nearly falling off. One arm was dangling on the ground, loosely holding onto an empty bottle of rum, the other draped across the his slightly bulging gut. His face had about a weeks worth of stubble on it and it was smeared with dirt and soot, and his greasy hair was completely disheveled. Occasionally a snore escaped his lips, as he shifted slightly in his sleep.

Jack cautiously made his way over to the man draped over the chair, and leaned in until their faces were mere inches apart. He studied the man's features to confirm his worst suspicions.

"Good God, man"

The sound of someone's voice so nearby caused the man to crack open his bleary, bloodshot eyes. After a moment of confusion, recognition dawned on the man's face, which was then quickly replaced by horror as the eyes shot open.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Both men leapt back simultaneously; Jack from the yell and the man from Jack. The man leaned back in his chair to get as far away from Jack as possible, which caused the chair to tip backwards and the man to unceremoniously tumble over and land on his backside. He then scooted across the floor on his hands and feet until his back ran into the wall and he could move no further. Finding no clear escape route, he decided his best option was to resume screaming.

Jack, ears still ringing from the initial yell, attempered to calm the man down. "Will...Will. WILLIAM!"

What Jack didn't realize was that when you wake from a drunken slumber to see a man that had been dead for years suddenly standing in front of you, it doesn't help the situation when the man starts shouting your name.

Jack finally gave up trying to snap Will out if it, and resigned himself to rolling his eyes and leaning against a post with his arms crossed waiting for him to scream himself hoarse, which he did in about 4 minutes. When Will finally regained his breath and got his voice back, he managed to stutter out a sentence.

"N-no! It can't be! "

"It can't?"

"Y-you're dead!"

"Oh right. That."

Jack looked down at the floor dejectedly, having been reminded that he technically shouldn't be existing at this time.

Will suddenly got a thoughtful and awed look on his face. "You-you're a _ghost_?"

Jack looked up quickly and somewhat annoyed. "No!"

Will's eyes went wide and then he quickly bowed his head like a schoolboy being scolded for a wrong answer. He stared at the floor a few moments before looking back up at the pirate. "But...but you're dead."

Jack heaved his shoulders in a great sigh. How was he going to explain this?

"There's actually a perfectly logical explanation as to why I'm here. I accidentally traveled to this time from twenty years in the past on a ghost ship that was struck by lightning, and is at this very moment sitting down in the harbor."

Will stared at Jack blankly for a few moments. "That was a perfectly logical explanation?"

Jack furrowed his brow. "'Course it is!"

Will squinted towards the pirate, scrutinizing him carefully. "Are you _sure _you're not a ghost?"

"If I was a ghost, would I be able to do this?" Jack strode over to Will, whipped out his cutlass and in a quick fluid motion, whacked Will across the shins with the broad side of it. Will sprang up with alarm and bent over to rub his bruised shins and received another blow across the backside. He quickly made for the door, but had only gotten a few steps out into the street before a commanding voice came from behind.

"Stop!" Will obeyed, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Now," Jack said in a calm, almost gentle tone, "Kindly turn your head to the left."

Will again did as he was told, and turned his head to see a strange silvery ship anchored in the harbor that had not been there earlier in the evening.

Will turned around to face Jack again, his mouth agape. "You're really from the past? But that's not possible!"

Jack sighed again and gracefully sheathed his cutlass to free up his hands to aid in explanation before he spoke. "Is a crew of undead skeletal pirates possible? Is Norrington and I switching places possible? Will, we really must work on your suspension of disbelief."

When Will had finally settled down a bit and tended to his bruised shins, Jack explained his little adventure in more depth, finishing with the discovery of his own death.

"So now that I've explained myself, how's about you do the same?" Jack with a sort of all-encompassing gesture.

Will sighed and to Jack's surprise let out a somber little chuckle. "You know, when I saw you when I woke up, I thought it was your spirit coming to punish me for not avenging what happened to you and for letting this happen to me."

Jack's face took on a serious expression, his eyes narrowing. "Will, what the bloody hell _happened _?"

Will took a deep breath and prepared himself to fill Jack in on the past 20 years.

"Well it all began about a year after you got the Pearl back . . ."

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I was a little off on my chapters. Will's Tale of Woe will be next chapter. My apologies! Reviews are appreciated! 


	5. Will's Tale of Woe

Hello again! I'm so sorry this chapter took so long. Hopefully the extra length of the chapter will make up for that . This chapter is a bit more serious, and it was a pain to write, so I would love to hear what you thought of it.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em

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Will began telling the story of what had happened just shortly after Jack had regained the Pearl.

"Everything was just...perfect. Elizabeth and I talked of marriage, you had your ship back, and the Navy hadn't seen hide nor hair of you, though I don't think Norrington was really all that concerned with finding you, to be honest."

"Not that he could if he wanted to..." Jack said. Glancing up from studying his fingernails, he noticed the look Will was giving him for interrupting his story, and gave a small apologetic grin.

Will cleared his throat and continued on. "As I was saying, everything was perfect until one night. I was just finishing the last order of the day. I remember trying to finish quickly because I promised Elizabeth that I would come to see her as soon as I was finished for the day. And then-" Will stared as the floor, his brows furrowed and his eyes filled with confusion. "And then everything went black."

Jack stared at Will patiently, waiting for him to continue.

"I remember waking up blindfolded, and from the rocking motion, I could tell I was on a ship. I had no idea where I was or where I was going, and when I yelled for help they gagged me. When the ship docked they dumped me on the docks and were gone before anyone even found me. When someone finally stumbled upon me and untied me, I found out I was here, in Tortuga."

Jack remained silent and narrowed his eyes, his mind already trying to piece things together.

"Since I had nothing to barter passage back to Port Royal, and the only sailing skills I had was what little you taught me, I had to earn not only enough money to get back, but enough for food and lodging while I was here. I did odd jobs, repairing weapons and whatever else I could to make a little money. I tried to send word to Elizabeth, but I knew that every time I paid someone to take a message to Port Royal, they would just take my money and fling the letter into the sea as soon as they pulled out of port. I had almost made enough money to buy passage on the next ship bound for Port Royal, when I saw the Black Pearl anchor in the harbor. "

Jack perked up at the mention of his ship

"The Pearl was stopping briefly for supplies, and I managed to find you and told you everything that had happened. You told me you'd bring me back, but you were suspicious. I should have listened to you, but I was just so eager to get back to Elizabeth that I kept begging you and wouldn't listen to reason." Will winced as he spoke, and looked up at Jack apologetically.

"We arrived at the island at night and were careful to keep out of sight. You anchored the ship far down shore from the city and the harbor so that there was no chance of anyone seeing us. There was no way that anyone could have known we were there. There...there was just no way!"

"Will! Take a deep breath and tell me who discovered we were there."

Will realized that Jack had already pieced together what he was about to say, and simply blurted out, "The Navy."

Jack closed his eyes and sighed, letting his shoulders drop slightly. "Go on."he said, eyes still closed.

" Before we could even load a cannon, they had us completely surrounded. You had purposely anchored far from shore in able to make a quicker escape, but it was like they knew what we were going to do before we did."

Jack opened his eyes and concentrated his dark stare on Will. "The Pearl?"

"Since you had already narrowly escaped the noose before and still had a price on your head, Gibbs and Ana knew they couldn't risk you being captured again, and they knew you wouldn't leave the Pearl willingly so they-uh. They pushed you overboard and you had no choice but to swim to shore and watch the Pearl surrend-"

"WHAT?"

"They were out-manned and outgunned. They thought it better to surrender then have the Pearl be blown into oblivion."

By this point in the story, Jack had his face buried in his hands. "N wa appenddo oo?"

Will furrowed his brow and leaned in closer to Jack. "Come again?"

Jack pried his face out of his hands and reiterated, "And what happened to you?"

It was now Will's turn to hang his head. "When they found me on the ship and accused me of running away and participating in acts of piracy with you, and I had nothing to prove that I had been doing otherwise. The governor couldn't rightly grant me clemency again, but he was still quite lenient, giving me only a few months jail time. While I was serving my time Elizabeth came to visit me. I tried to explain to her what had happened, but she refused to listen to anything I had to say, she said that she just came to say goodbye and announce her engagement to the Commodore. Then she threw a letter at me and left. The letter was addressed to Elizabeth from me. It said that I wouldn't be happy living here with her, and I wanted a life on the sea like my father and left to Tortuga in search of the Black Pearl."

"Ah, I'm.. flattered Will." Jack said somewhat awkwardly.

"I didn't write it!" Will spat back indignantly.

"Oh."

"Someone forged it and left it at her house on the night I was kidnaped. I-I never saw her again after that day." Will bowed his head, and Jack suddenly became enthralled with rafters of the smithy as he waited for Will to regain his composure.

After a few sniffles Will concluded his story. "After I served my time, I used the money I had earned to get back to Port Royal, and used it for passage back to Tortuga. I couldn't bear to live in Port Royal and have to see Elizabeth anymore."

"Let's see if I understand. I'd dead, you're a fat, lonely drunken, blacksmith in Tortuga..." Jack got up and paced around the room, ticking things off on his fingers as he said them. "...and Elizabeth is married to Commodore Norrington, who has my ship-"

"Governor."

"What?"

"He's the governor now. Appointed by the King under Swann's recommendations after he retired."

"Oh, lovely."

Jack paced only a short while before spinning around with a flourish to face Will. "Well, what's say we fix all this now."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Will, you really must stop drinking. I'm afraid it's damaged your short term memory.

Sitting in that very harbor is the solution to all our problems. All we need is to make sure we're going in the right direction and a little bit of lightning, and we can fix this before it even begins."

Wills eyes went wide filled with a hope that he had not felt in years. "Jack, do you really think we can do it?"

"'Course we can! But first, I believe a little detour is in order."

Will gulped, afraid to ask, "Where?"

"Why to Port Royal to pay a little visit Governor of Jamaica and his lovely wife, of course."

"I was afraid of that."

"We're going to need to get some information before we just go gallivanting off into the past. Well, shall we?" Jack strode confidently out the door. Will followed quickly behind, casing one last look into the Smithy before he headed out into the night.

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Thanks for reading and please take a minute to tell me what you thought of this chapter. The next chapter will have a lot more humor.

**Next Chapter: Memorial**


	6. Memorial

Just a short humorous chapter for this week. Then next one will either be a short one next week, or a longer one in the next couple of weeks, dependng on where I decide to cut it off. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed. You don't know how much more fun it is to write this story when I know people are laughing and enjoying it!

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Jack and Will headed quickly down to the harbor, Jack in the lead and Will close behind, lost in his own thoughts. How was Jack planning to get information from Norrington without getting hanged, and would they really be able to travel back to before the kidnapping had happened? Fortuantely, Will paused from his thoughts and looked up the road just in time to avoid being clotheslined by Jack's outsteached arm 

The pirate had held out his arm to stop Will, and had his attention compleatly foucused on something to the right of both of them. Will craned his neck over Jack's arm to see what he was so captivated by. To the right of them was a small plot of land, scattered with various makeshift grave markers. The Tortuga Cemetry; or at least one of the Tortuga Cemetaries. Will figurered that there had to be a few scattered around.

Jack strode up to the cemetary, and after a short pause, entered it. He walked through it exaggeratedly careful, as if he was walking on eggshells. This combined with his usual swagger made for an incredebly interesting spectacle as he went from marker to marker, searching.

Will decided to let Jack find what we was looking for by himself, and kept himself occupoed by reading some of the nearby markers.

"Here lies Smitty.

Trampled to death by a pig"

"Here lies Crazy-Eyed Jim.

Choked to death on the pig."

"'Jolly' Roger White.

No one quite knows what happened to him."

Will looked up to see that Jack had found what he was looking for, and headed over to join him.

Jack stared down an the marker and, with a grandiose gesture, swept off his hat and placed it lovingly over his heart. Will looked down at the marker until he was inturruped by Jack clearing his throught. He looked up to see Jack staring at him intently. When Jack's gaze was met with nothing but confusion by Will, he sighed, rolled his his eyes and stared down at the marker and back at Will.

Will, sudddenly realizing what Jack was indicating, blushed and cleared his thoat.

"Jack was a good man. I rememeber the time he stole the _Interceptor_-"

"Commandeered"

"Right. _Commandered_ the_ Interceptor_ right from under Norrington's nose. He did it without firing a single shot. He was brave and smart, and truly one of the best friends I could ever ask for."

Jack gave a small yawn, and Will realized he probabaly would have preferred euology with more swordfighting and sailing and descripions of piracy. He decided to end it with, "And he was the best pirate ever to sail the Caribbean. May he rest in peace."

Jack seemed satisfied with the ending and held up his finger for a moment. He did his eggshell-stepping swagger throught the graveyard and to the nearest house, where he promply ripped a flowering plant, roots and all, from a window box. He came back and gingerly layed it at the foot of the marker.

Stepping back, he looked down at his work with somber satisfaction and dramatically whisked away a tear that Will wasn't sure was real or not. He then dusted of his hands and turned to face Will, who after an icy stare from Jack, realized where he was standing and leapt away to the right of the grave marker.

"All right then. What's say we get on our way to Port Royal?"

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**Next Chapter**: Port Royal:1745 

Don't for get those reviews! I love 'em!


	7. The HMS Freedom

This chapter isn't as long as I had originally planned, but I will try to make up for that next chapter. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!

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Jack and Will wasted no time in getting to the harbor, obtaining a few necessary supplies, and rowing out to the _Lorean ._As they made their way to the ship,Jack noticed Will gazing up at it. Despite how little Will knew about ships, he knew that this particular one was certainly not your run of the mill sailing vessel as they approached it.

"She's something, isn't she?" Jack remarked. After getting over his initial resentment at the ship for transporting him into the future, he found himself rather impressed with it. He was interested to see just how quickly it could get them to Port Royal. The _Lorean_ didn't disappoint her temporary captain. The ship sliced though the water quickly and gracefully making excellent time, and Jack couldn't have been more grateful. The future Will was a bigger stick then the Will of the past. When he wasn't moping all over the ship, he was voicing his concerns over their objective, or lack thereof.

On the second day of the journey, the sun was gleaming, there were no storm clouds to be wary of, and there was a good strong wind. A day any sailor dreams of; and Jack was ready to tie himself to a cannon and go pay Bill a visit. He was at the helm, while Will stood directly behind him.

"...Jack?"

Jack managed a massive eye roll before answering, "Aye?"

"W-what am I going to do when I see Elizabeth? She's probably still as beautiful as ever and look at me. I'm pathetic."

"Yes, that's true, but fortunately for you that won't matter."

Will forgot to be insulted, as what Jack had said sparked his curiosity. " What do you mean?"

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with." Jack said, not taking his narrowed eyes off the horizon."Just leave everything to me. I have a plan"

"Oh no." Will said shoulders drooping. "That's what I was afraid of." Will slunk off the deck, and after several minutes below deck, emerged again with a perturbed look on his face. "Jack, where's the rum?"

Jack once again didn't take his eyes off the horizon. "There isn't any."

Will's jaw dropped. "What? How could you have forgotten the rum?"

Jack glanced down at the compass, watching the years fluxuate on the odometer as he slowly tilted the wheel. "I didn't forget it. I didn't get any."

"Why? Why would you not buy any rum?"Will looked positively crushed.

"Because, " Jack said, looking up at Will for the first time."despite what everyone seems to believe, I am perfectly capable of functioning with out it, and if my memory serves me, there was a time when you could too."

Will bowed his head in shame and mumbled something about going below deck for some rest. Jack waited several minutes until he was fairly certain that Will was asleep before he reached over the side of the ship and pulled up a rope until he had procured what had been carefully tied to the end of it.

Jack cradled the bottle in his hands a moment before pulling the cork and downing about half the bottle at once. He wasn't lying when he said he could function fine without rum, but it certainly did help when he was confined on a ship with a heart-sick man with more emotional baggage then the ocean had fish..

The rest of the trip was relativley uneventful, and they made it to Port Royal in excellent time. As they approached the island, Jack guided the ship so that they couldn't be seen from the city; much like he did with the _Black Pearl _when he was trying to get Will back to Port Royal. Will was nervous about the ordeal, and with good reason considering what had happened the last time, but Jack assured him that it was the only way to get to Port Royal and keep the ship hidden.

Jack and Will anchored the ship, rowed to shore and started fighting their way through the vegetation to the city. By the time they made their way to the edge of the city, it was sunset, They broke out of the trees and saw the Port Royal harbor spread out before them. Some merchant ships were anchored near the port, and Jack spotted two ships that were painted in the distinct colors of the British Royal Navy. The first was easily recognizable as the _Dauntless_, but Jack didn't recognize the second ship. He had never seen it before, but it looked somewhat familiar. Jack quickly pulled out a spyglass and studied the smaller ship anchored next to the _Dauntless._ Suddenly, he dropped the spyglass and stared blankly out into the harbor, his mouth agape. Will picked the spyglass up and looked up at the ship. He noticed a word was scrawled on the back of the ship in shining gold letters.

_Freedom._

Jack suddenly spoke.

"Now it's personal."

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Dun dun DUN! I spoke a bit too soon when I dubbed this chapter Port Royal 1745. My apologies! Don't forget those reviews!

**Next Chapter:** Port Royal:1745


	8. Port Royal: 1745

Well, I did it again, I was in the middle of story, and then finals reared their ugly head. The good news is I survived my first year of college and finally started working on this story again. I'm so sorry to everyone who's been reading this and waiting for an update! Please continue to read and review, and I'll try to keep updating regularly.

Will had never seen Jack quite like this. He had never looked quite so possessed. He seemed hell bent in the mission ahead if them. Striding along the shore towards the city, Will was barley able to keep up with him. Will noticed that as they walked, Jack never took his eyes off the _Pearl_. He couldn't seem to pry his eyes away from the former pirate vessel, now dressed sharply in the Navy's blue and gold.

"A Navy ship! A bloody ship of the fleet! Why didn't he just set fire to it?"

"Well, it is logical. I mean, you did sort of get his other ship blown up." Will said matter-of-factly. He immediately cringed as Jack tore his gaze away form the ship to give Will with an icy stare. Apparently the question was meant to be rhetorical.

"I would have preferred he blow up the _Pearl_ rather then turning her into…_that_! He spat, gesturing toward the ship.

Jack suddenly spun around and stared hard at Will, his eyes narrowing. "Did you know about this?"

"What? No! I mean, I knew that there was another Navy ship besides the _Dauntless_, but I had no clue the Freedom and the Pearl were the same ship!"

"But you knew of the Freedom?"

"Of course! Everyone has! Since she first appeared in Port Royal, piracy has virtually been wiped out!" Will saw Jack's expression at hearing that the Pearl had gone from being the most feared pirate ship in the Caribbean to the most effective eradicator of them, and quickly tried to change the subject. "Umm Jack, what exactly is our plan, now that we're here? We can just go waltzing into town."

"Because I'm still a wanted pirate?"

"Well, yes. That and the fact that you're dead"

Jack scowled a moment at being reminded of the fact that he no longer existed, but suddenly his eyes grew wide, and a grin spread across his face. A grin that never failed to make Will incredibly nervous.

"Will, you said that everyone knew about the Pearl's capture right?"

"Yes…"

"And what about my untimely demise?"

"Oh yes, word spread to Port Royal quickly from what I heard. The Navy was happy to advertise your death. Even if I wasn't at their hands. They thought it would further convince people that piracy was really dead. If fact, there were even some catchy limericks made up about it.

Jack the pirate was crazy,

'Till he lost his ship and got lazy.

Was drinking one day

But a cork got in the way,

Now he's pushing up daisies.

Jack stared at Will a moment before answering deadpan. " Lovely. We need to get into town. I think we need to perform a little experiment. "

"There's more."

"More what?"

"Limericks"

"Fantastic. Now if we come around by the docks-"

"There once was a pirate named Jack,

Proper drinking skills he did lack,

On a cork he did choke,

The sorry old bloke,

No one gave him a pat on the back."

"Once again, lovely. That will do. Now if we can focus-"

"Jack, Jack he choked on a cork

Jack Jack what a dor- OW!"

Jack and Will made it to the edge of Port Royal as night engulfed the city. Will stood behind Jack and craned his neck to see around the building they were hiding behind while rubbing a still-smarting backside he received courtesy of Jack's cutlass.

"So what is this experiment all about?" Will whispered.

"You'll see." Jack replied. " We just need to find the right subject."

Just then, a figure turned a corner and started heading towards them. Jack recognized him as Mullroy, the perpetually inept redcoat from years ago.

"Perfect." Jack murmured.

Just as the man passed by their hiding place, Jack leapt out and stood before the shocked man in all his piratey glory. Mullroy's jaw dropped and his eyes flew open.

Jack grinned, receiving the exact reaction he had hoped for. He leaned in towards the horrified man, causing him to lean back until he was nearly falling over and then asked, "Excuse me, have you seen my ship?"

Mullroy's eyes grew even wider, which Jack would have thought was impossible, and the poor man began to stammer. "B-b-but it's not. Y-y-ou're not…"

Jack grinned once more, leaned just a little closer towards Mullroy and said. "Boo"

Mullroy turned around so quickly, he got tangled in his own legs and fell over. He got up and took off in the opposite direction as fast his legs could carry him. Jack grinned wider, his hands on his hips.

Will finally came out of his hiding place after Mullroy was long out of sight. "Well that was certainly something. He looked like- "

"He'd seen a ghost?" Jack finished, grinning. What do you say we go pay the Governor a little visit?

Next Chapter: A Visit to the Governor's


	9. The Governor's Mansion

Once again, I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I have a little better idea where I'm going with the story now, so hopefully I can get back on track posting chapters. Apologies for such a short chapter also. Thanks for your patience!

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After their little encounter with Murtogg, Jack and Will finally began making their way up to the mansion. It was slow going, due in no small part to Jack's insistence that he practice his "experiment" on several more innocent victims. Will had to physically restrain Jack to keep him from leaping out of the shadows and scaring the living daylights out of passerby. 

When they finally reached the mansion it was already late at night. Jack looked up at the great iron gates surrounding the mansion and frown. He had forgotten about them when he was concocting his brilliant plan, but luckily for him, it turned out he didn't have to. As he was deciding whether vaulting over the gates or digging under them using spoons would be more effective, he heard a "pssst" and turned to find Will motioning him to follow him around the gate to the north side of the property.

Jack followed Will as he made his way along the wall. Jack furrowed his brow, but said nothing as Will felt along the wall, apparently in deep concentration. As they came upon a small clump of bushes, Jack suddenly heard Will exclaim, "Ah-ha!" Jack looked down to see Will pull back the bushes to reveal a small hole where some of the stone had crumbled away. The ground under the hole had been dug out to create a hole just large enough to allow a person to squeeze though.

Jack looked down at the hole, and cast an inquisitive stare back up at Will, who was now grinning sheepishly. "Elizabeth would say she was going to her room to rest and would ask not to be disturbed. Then she would sneak out and meet me here."

Jack noticed the wistful look slowly returning in Will's eyes, and he quickly scrambled under the hole and stealthily made his way to the closest window, Will was a little ways behind him, having taken a little longer to get under the gate due to the loss of his boyish figure. When he caught up, he and Jack both looked up at the window. Fortunately it had been left open to allow a cool breeze into the house, but it was too high for either of them to climb into.

"Will." Jack hissed. "Some assistance please."

Will stared blankly a moment before Jack pointed to the ground. Sighing but knowing there was no use in arguing with Jack, Will reluctantly got on his hands and knees and braced himself for the heels of Jacks boots digging into his back, which they did just moments later.

Now able to peer into the window, Jack looked at the room inside, recognizing it as the kitchen.

"Jack," Will interrupted Jack's investigation. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"'Course I do! Now hold still."

Unfortunately, at that moment a snake that had been disturbed by Will and Jack slithered it's way right between Wills arms. Will managed to hold back a scream, but when as he frantically tried to adjust his arms, Jack shifted his weight, and Will's arms collapsed, sending his face down in the dirt, just missing the snake

Jack realized his support had suddenly disappeared, and grabbed the windowsill just in time. He heaved himself over the side of the window, his fall broken by a rather large number of pots and pans. He sincerely hoped the commotion he had caused wasn't as loud as it had sounded to him. Will tentatively crept to the window and whispered, "Jack...are you alright?"only to be answered by a footstool sailing through the open window and whizzing just a few inches from his face

Although not loud enough to wake any of the inhabitants of the Governor's mansion, Jack's entrance did attract the attention of someone who was already awake and heading towards the kitchen for some chamomile tea in the hopes that it would help coax them into sleep.

Jack was still sprawled out on the floor when Will used the footstool to peer into the kitchen and check to see if he was alright.

Jack cast an angry glance up in Will's direction, but Will was unable to give Jack an explanation as the door to the kitchen suddenly opened and candlelight flooded into the room onto the two dumbfounded trespassers.

Will's mouth, which had opened to explained why he had fallen out from under Jack, remained agape. There in the doorway was none other then the former Miss Elizabeth Swann.

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UH-OH! I will try my best to get the next chapter up sooner then I have been lately! Reviews appreciated as always. 

**Next chapter: Elizabeth**


	10. Elizabeth

Once again I apologize for how long it took to update! At least this chapter is a bit longer. Thank you so much again for your reviews everyone! Especially the recent ones that got me off my lazy butt and helped motivate me to finish this damn chapter and post it!

For what seemed like an eternity, the three simply stared at each other. Will stared at Elizabeth. Elizabeth stared at Jack. Jack stared at Will and Elizabeth. Finally, after Jack decided they had sufficient time to look each other over he cheerfully said, "Well, isn't this a lovely little reunion!"

At this, Elizabeth snap back to reality, and promptly fainted.

Will flew across the room with a speed that surprised Jack given his current state, and caught Elizabeth before she hit the ground.

"Wonderful work Jack." Will muttered as he gently fanned Elizabeth's head, which was resting in his lap. He could hardly believe what was happening. Less then one week ago, he had been drinking himself into oblivion in the dingy blacksmith shop on Tortuga, and here he was in the house of the woman he loved and whom he had not seen in twenty years, cradling her head in his lap. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her. Unlike himself, she looked just as she had the day he had left. Though her noticed her beautiful face had taken on a somewhat hollow look. He was examining the rings under her eyes when Jack spoke, bringing him back to reality.

"Pardon me Will, but it's not always easy to remember that I'm deceased. Let's just be grateful Elizabeth decided to lose consciousness rather then scream." That was certainly true, the last thing they needed was the entire Norrington household awake. Suddenly he felt Elizabeth stir, and looked down in time to see her eyes flutter open and look directly into his. He was looking so deeply into her brown eyes that he didn't even notice the hand come flying through the air until it connected with his face. Jack cringed. "I don't think he deserved that." Elizabeth flew from the floor and fixed Will with an icy stare.

"William Turner! How dare you! You write a letter to me, not even giving me the decency of telling me you no longer love me in person, and then I don't hear a word from you in twenty years_, twenty years_ only to find you breaking into my kitchen with J-" Elizabeth stopped mid rant and slowly turned her head until she was staring at Jack, who grinned madly while sweeping his hat off him head and bowing in one graceful gesture. When he rose back up to face her, he noticed that she had paled considerably. "Elizabeth, I would be eternally grateful if you wouldn't faint again...or scream." he added as an afterthought.

Elizabeth backed up a few feet until she found herself bumping into the china hutch, and took several deep breaths before she spoke again. "You- you're supposed to be dead."

"Ah yes, and technically I still am. That is to say, the me of this time is dead, not the me from twenty years ago, which is the me your seeing right now. That me, the me from twenty years ago, is still very much alive as you can see."

Elizabeth simply stared at both of them for a few moments while she tried to process what Jack had just told her. Finally she said, "You're dead...but _you_ are still alive."

"Exactly!" Jack said, grinning.

"It's all rather...complicated." Will muttered, staring at the floor.

"Well I think you better explain it to me." Elizabeth said matter-of-factly."All of it." She sat down and crossed her arms and stared at the two men expectantly.

It took nearly a half hour to recount the entire story, with Will politely interrupting Jack every time he decided to embellish the truth. "...and so that's why we impeded on your lovely abode. I have to find out what happened so I can try to go back and stop it before it happens."

"We also have to find out who's behind my kidnaping."

"Kidnaping?"

Jack rolled his eyes. He didn't need to hear this all over again, and he was sure this time, the ending would be significantly mushier, what with Will explaining the note saying he was leaving Elizabeth was forged and that he never stopped loving her and what-not.

"As much as I'd love to hear all this again, I have an interrogation to preform Elizabeth, would you kindly point me in the direction of your lovely husband's room?" Jack noticed Will wince at the word 'husband', but ignored it and waited for Elizabeth's response.

Elizabeth, who was staring intently at Will, seemed to take a moment to register what Jack was saying to her. " My husband?" She murmured, finally losing the glazed look in her eyes. "He-he's upstairs, but why would you want to question him?"

"Well, he is the one who found my ship and attacked it." Jack said matter-of-factly. " If I'm to find out how to stop what happened, I'm going to have to know exactly how he found me."

"But he didn't find you!"

"Uh, Elizabeth? My ship is bobbing out in the harbor in the Navy's colors and I'm six feet under the ground in Tortuga. I'm fairly certain he did."

Elizabeth sighed exasparatedly and rolled her eyes. " No, no. You were found, but not by James."

"Not by Norrington? Then by who?" asked Jack, now thoroughly perplexed.

"The current Commodore of Port Royal. He was the Lieutenant when he caught you."

"You don't mean to say I was captured by-"

"Gillette" Elizabeth finished for him.

Jack could only stare at her a moment before shutting his eyes tightly and mumbling, " Of all the..." Fortunately his mumbling became incoherent, and Elizabeth didn't hear the string of obscenities that Will certainly wouldn't approved of Jack saying in front of her.

Jack took a deep breath to compose himself and turned once again toward Elizabeth. "Sorry for intruding on your lovely home, darling. Thank you for the information. Now if you don't mind, Will and I have some urgent business to attend to." Jack spoke as though he and Will were old friends who had stopped by unannounced for coffee instead of an ex-fiancé that she hadn't seen in 20 years and a supposedly dead man who she had caught breaking into her house. Jack bowed gracefully and headed for the window, motioning for Will to come along. Will cast one more wistful glance back at Elizabeth, who, bathed in the moonlight, looked just s lovely to him as she had all those years ago.

Just as the two were nearly out the window a defiant voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Stop!"

They both turned to face Elizabeth, who a look of determination etched on her face.

"I'm going with you."

**Next Chapter: **Visit to the Commodore


	11. A Visit to the Commodore

Once again, sorry for the ridiculously long time between updates! College has begun again, and I've been swamped with moving in, buying books and trying not to go broke, not to mention cross country practice! I'm trying to balance this fic with my recent Charlie and the Chocolate Factory obsession. I started writing little short stories over there, but I'll do my best to update both. I've been getting such wonderful reviews from all of you! Thank you all again and keep 'em coming!

Jack gulped. He knew what he had just heard, but he thought he'd let her repeat it just to be absolutely positive.

"Come again?"

"I'm going with you."

"Ah, right."

Well, he had heard correctly. Now he just needed to find a way for her to change her mind, something that he knew would be an exercise in futility, since Elizabeth was never one to change her mind once it was made up.

"Elizabeth darling, we're having enough of a time sneaking around as it is. Another person will only slow us down, and if that person happens to be the wife of the governor, well that's not exactly convenient for us now, is it?"

"My life will be changed just as much as yours if you do change the past, so I have just as much a right as you do to be a part of this!"

Jack seemed to ponder this for a moment, and then said quietly. "Nothing I could say would keep you from coming then?"

Elizabeth stared at him steadily. "No."

"Right then. Let's go."

Elizabeth stared at him for a moment in shock. She looked back through the kitchen door, hesitating, but when she looked back to Jack, she could tell by the expression on his face that he wasn't going to wait for her to get a proper dress on or pin up her hair, let alone some time to say goodbye to her life as she knew it. She took a deep breath, and followed Will and Jack out the window.

To Jack's surprise, Elizabeth turned out to be quite the asset on their way to Gillette's home. She knew the quickest way there due to the amount of times she was forced to visit with Norrington for what usually turned out to be incredibly long and uncomfortable evenings. Gillette wasn't known for his entertaining skills.

The trio slipped quietly through the night streets. Jack noticed that Will and Elizabeth had been avoiding looking and one another, and were most likely grateful that there was an excuse for the awkward silence between them. They pressed on to Gillette's home, carful not to make a noise lest they be discovered.

After a short time they came to the front gates of a small but garishly decorated home. Gillette seemed to want the city to know of his importance, and it had shown through the opulence of his home. Despite the fact that the entrance through the governor's kitchen didn't quite go as planned for Jack and Will, it appeared to be the only window on the lower floor of Gillette's home that was open, and they were forced to use it. Luckily all three made it in without a sound.

"Alright." said Jack in a whisper as they formed a huddle in the kitchen. "I want you two to stand guard for me. If all goes as planned, there could be...a bit of a commotion, and I'll have to know if anyone hears so we can make a clean getaway. One of you station ourselves by the front door, the other towards the top of the stairs. Understood?"

Jack didn't wait for conformation, and started for the stairs when he heard a harsh whisper.

"Jaaack!"

"What?"

"What's the signal? " whispered Will.

"What?"

"The signal to warn you! What do we do? Call like a seagull? Bark like a dog?"

"Or some sort of whistle" added Elizabeth helpfully.

"Or," said Jack, his patience wearing thin, "You could say 'Oy Jack, someone's coming.'"

Both stared a moment and then nodded solemnly. Jack turned once more when he was interrupted once again by a harsh whisper. This time it was Elizabeth.

"Jaaaaack!"

"What?" Jack replied, gritting his teeth.

"What exactly are you going to do up there?"

Jack took a deep breath before he explained. "Well according to the both of you I am currently deceased correct?"

Will and Elizabeth nodded.

"Well then, when Gillette wakes up to see me at the foot of his bed, he'll have just a bit of a surprise then won't he? I figure I'll take advantage of this and ask him a few questions that will help all of us figure out just how he knew where I was when I brought Will back on the Pearl."

"Well you don't look too much like a ghost." she said simply.

"I looked enough like one to convince you didn't I?"

"Well, well perhaps you could make more of an effort"

Jack stared at her a moment before turning around one last time to head up the stairs.

"Jaaaack."

Jack whirled around to tell the both of them to be quiet and take up their posts for the love of all things holy, when he was quite unexpectedly hit in the face with something powdery and white.

"There we are!" said Elizabeth, dusting the flour off her hands with satisfaction. Before her stood a completely shocked Jack, covered from head to foot in flour. He tried to get his mouth to work, but was unable to at the moment, due in no small part to the large amount of flour in it.

"Gives a nice effect don't you think?" she whispered to Will.

"Um, oh yes! Very scary."He quickly whispered to appease her.

Jack finally managed to spit out much of the flour and was doing everything in his power not to shout at the top of his lungs.

"Scary? I look like a bloody pastry!"

"Well I think it makes you look like a proper ghost!" Elizabeth said indignantly.

Instead of continuing the argument, Jack merely gave Elizabeth a scowl and made his way up the stairs, shaking off as much excess flour as he could on the way up. '_A proper ghost! Gillette won't know whether to scream or try to flatten me with a bloody rolling pin!'_ he thought angrily to himself as he made his way to the master bedroom.

He came to a stop outside the door and could hear soft snoring coming from within the room.'_Alright Jack, time to give the performance of your afterlife' _

**Next Chapter**: Gillette's interrogation


	12. The Haunting of Gillette

Once again, I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I'll skip the regular excuses and just apologize and get right into the chapter. I have to admit, I was pretty rough on poor Gillette, but it's difficult not to be! Well, enjoy, and see if you can spot a line from another Johnny Depp movie in Jack's dialogue!

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Jack straightened up slightly and ever so slowly turned the handle leading into the bedroom. Absolute silence was crucial right now. Jack didn't claim to be an expert on ghosts, though we did have rather a lot of experience with the undead, and had heard enough ghost stories told by old sailors at night on long voyages to know what proper ghost etiquette was. A memorable entrance was absolutely imperative. Simply strolling right into a room didn't quite provide the desired effect. You had to appear as if you came out of thin air, and if the person you were trying to frighten was asleep, then so much was your advantage.

Jack inched the door open to reveal a large opulent room, with a large opulent bed right in the center of it. Curled up in the fetal position within its luxurious sheets was none other then Gillette. Jack inched ever closer until he was right at the foot of the bed, and was able to hear the soft snoring of it's occupant. He suddenly noticed something light blue peeking out from under the sheets.

"Oh Good Lord." Jack whispered. "Please tell me that's not a blankie."

This may be easier then he thought.

Jack took a deep breath and in his most assertive and commanding voice shouted, "GILLETTE!"

The man in the bed sat bolt upright and stared at Jack a moment before blinking rapidly and rubbing his eyes vigorously.

Jack leaned over the bed ever so slightly and grinned at the stunned man, who was still trying to convince himself he was dreaming. "Rise and shine, Commodore."

Jack winced at the inevitable scream that followed immediately after his little greeting. It was a surprising octave, and lasted much longer then Jack would have ever thought possible. He would have been impressed, if the scream wasn't probably waking up the entire neighborhood. He had better get this over with as quickly as possible.

"That's enough!" he yelled in a gruff voice that was usually only used for barking out orders while aboard the Pearl...or any other ship he happened to be in charge of at the time. Gillette immediately stopped his screaming, but couldn't seem to help letting out a small whimper, as if embarrassed by that, he gathered up all his courage and finally addressed the apparition in front of him.

" J-Jack Sparrow?" he whispered feebly.

"None other." Jack said, spreading his arms wide and bowing slightly.

"But you're supposed to be-they said you were-."

"Dead?" Jack finished "Well Commodore, you should know as well as anyone that just because a person is dead, doesn't mean they're gone. Especially when they have unfinished business to take care of." Jack smiled slightly when his words had the desired effect on the stunned officer as he saw him grow a few shades paler and break into a sweat before being able to stutter out his next sentence.

"W-hat do you want?"

"Commodore, I thought you would never ask!" Jack grinned once again and began strutting around the room, casually examining objects on the various tables and shelves. He stopped himself short of picking them up and examining them as he usually did however, as he realized it may have an effect on Gillette's belief that he was an intangible specter. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Gillette, as slow on the uptake as he was, would figure it out anyway. He suddenly tuned from his examination of the room and stared directly at Gillette, his eyes looking deathly serious.

"I want to know how you killed me."

Gillette sat up further in bed, still clutching the covers right up under his chin. "What do you mean k-kill you! You escaped! You made it off your ship before we captured it!"

Jack's eyes narrowed as Gillette spoke. "I'm fully aware that you didn't capture me." He snapped. "But you, more then anyone else, are responsible for my death." Jack's voice lost his harsh edge and instead took on a dangerously silky tone that made Gillette's stomach churn more that any harsh shout or threatening growl ever could. "You see Commodore, you took away from me the thing that I valued more then anything else in the entire world, and because of that I blame you for my downfall and eventual demise."Gillette's eyes grew ever wider as Jack suddenly looked thoughtful for a moment. "You do know what happened to the last person who took the _Pearl _away from me, don't you?

That was it. Gillette broke down into tears and began sobbing, "P-p-please Sparrow please don't kill me! I-I'll do anything! Just please don't hurt me!"

Jack crossed his arms and sneered, clearly not moved by Gillette's emotional display. "Enough! There is one thing you could give me. The reason I've come back to pay you a little visit, in fact."

"Whatever you want!" Gillette blubbered. "Anything!"

Jack smiled and leaned close to the military man. "Information."

Gillette looked confused. He was clearly thinking of far worse things for Jack to have requested. His soul, for one. "Information?"

"How did you know that I would come to Port Royal on the exact day I did and be in the exact place I was in?" Gillette seemed completely dumbfounded by the question, and Jack's patience was wearing ever thinner. "How did you do it? Spies? Tip off? Out with it!"

Gillette shook his head vigorously. "No no nothing like that. It was-" he hesitated mid-sentence. The poor man looked as if he was tying to remember something that he wasn't even sure was real. As if trying to discern a real event from a dream. After a glance at Jack, he finally blurted the rest of the sentence out quickly." -a ship."

It was Jack's turn to look shocked. He spoke very slowly. "What kind of ship?"

"I-I had never seen anything like it before. I was on my way back from a routine patrol of the area on the _Dauntless_ when we came across it. It looked completely abandoned, and no one on the crew could seem to identify what kind of ship it was, or what country it may have come from. When we inspected it, we found that it was indeed abandoned, and as there seemed to be nothing wrong with it, we decided to sail it back to Port Royal. Before we could even begin to hoist the sails, a storm began to brew and the very first flash of lightning struck the ship. There was a blinding flash of light and-" Gillette began to hesitate again.

Jack could hardly believe what he was hearing. "And..." he breathed.

"And all of a sudden we were in the exact same spot, but it was perfectly clear. The _Dauntless _was nowhere to be found. We had no idea the of the enormity of what had happened until we got back to Port Royal. Commodore Norrington raced down to the docks to meet us and asked me what had happened. I asked him what he was talking about, and he had explained to me that we had left not two hours ago, but...but we had been gone for six days !"

"Did you tell Norrington?"

"No! I was afraid he would think I had gone mad! He would have thought the crew and I had contracted some sort of disease on the ship and had us all quarantined! I told him we had found the ship just out of Port Royal, and I had decided to bring it back and ordered Groves to continue on with the _Dauntless. _I ordered the crew who was with me to speak nothing about it, and when the _Dauntless_ turned up six days later, I managed to get Groves to keep his mouth shut too, telling him if he dared explain anything to Norrington, I would deny everything and call him mad. By this time, I was already realizing the implications of such a ship. Since you and Turner had destroyed the _Interceptor_, we were in serious need of another ship, and Norrington noticed her speed and maneuverability, and put me in charge of her, to see what she could do and if she could be an asset to us. I was able to get the same crew under me, and we quickly realized that the readings of the compass determined the destination in time the ship was to travel, and by the turn of the wheel, you could jump days, months, even years. We also realized that it was the lightning that powered the ship, and it seemed to have the ability to attract it to itself."

Gillette looked up from his bed sheets he had been staring down at while he recounted the story and stared directly at the now completely riveted Jack. "It was then that I came up with a plan to capture you and your ship"

* * *

I really, REALLY didn't want to cut this chapter off in the middle of Gillette's little speech, but I wanted to get a chapter out before...dun dun DUN--finals! I haven't updated in forever, and I wanted to before all those nasty tests and I before I head home for Christmas break. Anyway, enjoy, and I assure you that I'll work hard on this during that nice long break! Oh, and as always and please review! Thanks and Merry Christmas!

**Next Chapter:** The Plan


	13. The Plan

Once again, this chapter took waaaaay longer then it should have, but it was an interesting one to write. I sort of came up with things and put things together as I wrote. Let me know if it all fits!

* * *

Jack said nothing as he waited for Gillette to explain just what he had done. With a deep breath Gillette began to tell of the plan.

"I couldn't let what you did to Governor Norrington go unpunished. I had been furious over the way you had humiliated him, even if he had moved on. I never really forgave him for just letting you go, but I vowed I would seek vengeance, and with this ship I had the perfect opportunity. As soon as I found out what the ship was capable of, I started to formulate a plan.

I knew the only real bait I had was Turner, who I detested almost as much as you. I realized if I did things right, I could kill two birds with one stone. "

Things suddenly started to make sense to Jack. "So it was you who kidnapped Will and forged the note!"

Gillette nodded, seeming to grow more comfortable. Recounting his foolproof plan, even to a ghost, seemed to give him confidence, and it was making Jack increasingly uneasy.

"We simply kidnapped Turner and dropped him off on Tortuga with only the clothes on his back, making sure word spread so that it would eventually get to you. We then traveled back to Port Royal, but one year in the future. Will had been returned by you safely without our interference, and I requested that he come to the fort. Once there, I told him we had a sure suspect in his kidnapping and he needed to give us as much information as possible about what happened to him and how he got back. He was fine with telling us exactly when he got back, but naturally he was more reluctant to tell us who had brought him. I knew it had to have been you so I didn't press the matter. I just asked him where on the island he had been dropped off, and he obviously didn't think there could be any harm in telling me that. Little did he know, he gave us exactly what we needed to capture you. We wasted no time getting on the ship and sailing just out of sight of Port Royal before going back one year and preparing for your arrival."

"Wait just a moment," said Jack, holding up a finger. "I thought you said you needed lighting to go back and forth."

"If you're traveling to a new destination in time you do. We learned through our experiments before we took Turner that the ship can return to a time it has previously been to without lightning you if can get the compass to the exact date and flip a lever right next to it. It was difficult, but we managed to get back. I then simply told Norrington I had done some investigations and discovered inside information that you were helping Turner get back, and found the date and place you would be returning. Norrington had no trouble believing that a filthy pirate from your crew would give me the information for some measly gold coins to get himself drunk, and he commended me on my efforts. The _Dauntless _was loaded with soldiers, we sailed to where you would be, and-I think you can figure out the rest for yourself." he finished, rather smugly.

Jack hid his discomfort and surprise under an easy and convincing grin. "My congratulations _Commodore_, I wouldn'tve thought you had it in you. Just one more question for you. When did you discover the ship? I'm sure you'd never forget the luckiest day of your life"

Gillette sneered at the comment. "You know Sparrow, you certainly don't look like a ghost to me."

_'Fantastic, the simpleton finally figured it out.'_ thought Jack. _'Fine mess you've gotten yourself into Sparrow! Now what?' _

"Apologies," Jack said with bow as he fiercely tried to think of a way out. "I hate to disappoint."

"And you didn't have much trouble accepting a time traveling ship."

"Well hopefully you won't have any trouble believing I could cut you to ribbons with this cutlass." And with a lighting-fast motion, Jack's cutlass was inches from Gillette's throat. If Gillette had any doubts of Jack being a ghost, Jack had quickly cleared up the issue.

Though a confident grin was still on his face, Jack knew he had backed himself into a corner. Just when he thought he was really stuck, he was struck with an epiphany. He would have to remember to thank Elizabeth.

Gillette was completely stunned for a moment before reluctantly stuttering, "T-the seventh of July."

"Many thanks, and now, as lovely as it is talking with you Commodore, I really must be going."

Gillette looked as though he was about to shout for help, but he was never able to, as a fistful of flour was hurled at his face with frightening velocity. It hit him square in the face, causing a cloud of flour to completely cloud Gillette's field of vision. Jack took this opportunity to make a mad dash for the door, the pockets of his coat flapping inside out, flour still sticking to them.

* * *

Now that all that is out of the way, the next chapter should have a little more action in it. Reviews appreciated as always! Whoa I just noticed this is the 13th chapter, updated on Friday the 13. Cue the Twilight Zone Music!

**Next Chapter: **Race to the_ Lorean_


	14. Finding a Crew

I know I'm terrible about updating, but the good news is the story should be picking up a bit now, and I've already started on the next chapter, which is an amazing feat for me, so hopefully the next update won't take as long.

Jack tore out of Gillette's room, nearly knocking Will over as he did so. "Time to go!" he shouted as he flew past, and Will followed as quickly as he could, which unfortunately, was much slower then in their past adventures. They met Elizabeth at the front door, and all three took off into the night.

"Elizabeth darling, I must thank you for the flour." Jack said, slightly out of breath.

"So it worked! I knew it would!" she said excitedly.

"More or less." Jack knew that a face full of flour would only hold Gillette off for so long. Luckily, it would take the man considerably longer to think of an excuse for rousing the navy to chase after them. A dead man in a time traveling ship wouldn't exactly qualify as a valid reason. Nevertheless, he needed to proceed with a his hastily improvised and utterly hopeless plan as quickly as possible.

"Will, what happened to the rest of the crew after they were caught?"

"W-well they a-a-ll served ja-a-il time, b-but most didn't h-h-ave a b-b-rand and eventually were r-released." said Will, panting heavily. Jack took his current state into consideration, and slowed the pace a bit before asking the next question.

"And how many stayed in Port Royal?"

"Quite a few. The Navy kept a close eye on them, so there weren't many that returned to Tortuga. Even if the Navy hadn't been a factor, I don't think any of them would have returned to piracy anyway. None of the crew could have even thought of serving on a ship besides the _Pearl." _

Jack allowed himself to be sentimental for only a few moments before continuing with his interrogation.

Who's still here?" Jack asked, trying not to hope for too much.

"Gibbs and Anamaria." Elizabeth said suddenly from beside Jack. "And I know where to find Ana."

Jack followed as Elizabeth took a turn and headed for the rougher side of town, with Will huffing and puffing behind them. At the moment, he had been too excited at the news of his two most valuable and trusted crew members being in the city to actually question how Elizabeth knew where on earth to find one of them, but his curiosity finally caught up with him and he cast a suspicious glance over to Elizabeth.

"How exactly do you know where to find Anamaria?"

Elizabeth, despite her face being flushed from running, still blushed visibly. "Living with James, I had everything I could ever want or need, but it was so incredibly _dull_. After Anamaria was released, I found her, and I guess we-we struck up a bit of a friendship. I would sneak out of the house whenever I got the chance and we would visit. We mostly talked about you and all the trouble you got into." Elizabeth's face took on a look of wistfulness at suddenly recalling the old memories. "She would tell me all about life on the Pearl after our little adventure with Barbossa."

"How absolutely lovely." Jack said in a tone that didn't quite convey his sentiments very convincingly. "Now, where do we find her?"

"She'll be down by the harbor."

As the three ran past increasingly destitute looking homes down roads that because more and more treacherous with dis-repair and neglect, Jack wondered just where they would find Anamaria. He wasn't surprised that she was down by the harbor, but what could she possibly be doing? Women working on and around the ships in Tortuga may have been all well and good, but Jack highly doubted it was a practice that was as common in Port Royal.

Suddenly Elizabeth halted in her tracks. "Here we are."

Jack looked up and to his surprise, found that they were standing in front of a dilapidated old tavern.

"No, it couldn't be." scoffed Jack.

"W-what couldn't be." panted Will just behind him. He had finally caught up and had his hands on his knees, trying desperately to catch his breath.

Instead of answering, Jack swung open the door to the tavern and swaggered in, Elizabeth and Will tow.

The dimly lit tavern was full of weathered old sailors sitting at mismatched old tables and hunched over their drinks. Occasionally there would be a murmur of conversation here and there by a younger sailor who had some wildly exaggerated story to tell, but most of the inhabitants looked like they had run out of stories to tell several years ago, and would be too tired to tell them even if they did.

The barkeep looked up from the dirty glass he was polishing with an even dirtier rag and shouted. "Ay! Out here! We got customers!"

Out from the doorway shuffled the most defeated looking woman Jack had ever seen. Her clothes were tattered and filthy, her hair was wild and unkept streaks of gray running through it, and she walked as though the weight of the entire world was on her shoulders. She kept her head down as she made her way towards them, only looking up slightly to mumble a barley audible "Whaddlyave?" When she didn't get an answer, she finally looked up in irritation at her customers, and her jaw dropped.

Jack had finally gotten used to how people who recognized him reacted when they saw him now, so he was waiting for the ususal response. This made him even more surprised when he was given a hard slap in the face. Will winced and said sympathetically, "You know Jack, for once, I really honestly don't think you deserved that."

Jack could only nod in agreement, as he was fairly certain the force of the slap had dislocated his jaw, if that was possible. "How dare you, Jack Sparrow!" the woman said, her voice shaking with rage. It was, of course, Anamaria.

"...Come again?" Jack finally managed to spit out.

"How dare you see me like...like this!" She said gesturing to her ratty clothing and disheveled appearance, and then at the establishment around them. "I've never been so humiliated!"

"Ana, darling, aren't you even the least bit curious as to how I'm here? You know, alive and whatnot?"

"Humph! No doubt by some deal with the supernatural or some such nonsense, I should imagine!"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, thought a moment, and closed it again, realizing how she wasn't far off the mark. He then held up a finger in protest. "In my defense, I had absolutely no say in the matter."

Anamaria crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at him sternly, but twenty years Jack-free didn't make her any less susceptible to his pleading eyes. She finally sighed, "What do I have to do?" Before she knew what was happening, she was grabbed by the arm and dragged out of the tavern.


	15. Decisions, decisions

I won't waste your valuble reading time with excuses on why this chapter is so absurdly late (though if you'd like some, they're in my profile.) I'll just apologize once again and do my best to get the next one out faster, which I hopefully can since the story is picking up steam.

P.S. How about those newest POTC:DMC trailers! Just a bit longer...

* * *

Anamaria was only given a few moments to reunite with Will and Elizabeth before they were off into the night again. She went along, but not without some vocal protest.

"Would you mind explaining to me why I just left my job to run of into the night with a man that, as you pointed out, is supposed to be dead?" She asked as she caught up to Jack.

"Afraid I can only give you the abbreviated version."

"Well, out with it!"

"Found a ship. Ship went into future. Discovered Gillette found the ship before me and jeopardized future. Need to fix future."

"And just how are we going to go about doing do that?"

"An excellent question, and one I assure you, I do plan on answering. Just as soon as I figure it out."

Anamaria could only roll her eyes and sigh. " I should have figured as much. And just what exactly are we doing running all over the town in the dead of night?"

"Looking for Gibbs. You wouldn't happen to know where he is would you?"

"'Course not! He could be anywhere! He may have left Port Royal years ago! Why, he could be anywh-" Anamaria wasn't able to finish her sentence however, as she went head over heels, flipping into a tangle of bodies.

As Anamaria tried to take a quick survey of her body for broken bones, she heard a moan emanate from the pile she had tripped over. She gingerly rose up from the street to see what had caused Jack to fall over, and consequently caused her to trip, as she was right behind him at the time.

"Found 'im." she heard what she was fairly certain was Jack's muffled voice. She now heard another, gruffer voice from somewhere in the pile.

"Why don't you look where yer going, you damned fool! If I was feelin' like myself, I'd cut you to ribbons!" Jack finally managed to pull himself away from the talking pile of what appeared to be garbage, but upon closer examination turned out to be a very drunk, very smelly man. 

"Pleasure to see you again too, Gibbs." said Jack, as he attempted to brush the smell off himself. The filthy man stared up at the pirate captain for a moment then back at the half empty bottle of rum in his hand, and the back up at the pirate once more before smashing the bottle on the ground and mumbling something about hallucinations and needing stronger rum.

After a few dunks in a nearby water barrel courtesy of Will and Jack, Gibbs was finally sober enough to have a proper panic attack at seeing Jack. They once again told the abbreviated story of Jack and the ship, though this time they spoke a bit slower and used small words, as Gibbs was still far from himself.

" S'now what are ya gonna do?" asked Gibbs, still slurring his words slightly.

"Now we simply find a crew, go back in time, find Gillette before he completely destroys our future, and stop him." said Jack.

"Oh is that all?" Gibbs grumbled sarcastically.

"You wouldn't happen to know where we could find a crew, would you?"

"Er, what exactly would ya be meanin' by 'crew'?"

Jack paused a moment in thought. "A group of people either drunk, desperate, stupid or foolhardy enough to actually want to follow whatever plan it si that I manage to come up with within the next ten minutes."

Gillette's whiskery face broke into a wide grin. "Ah, well I think I can find a few of those around here."

"Perfect. Meet us down in the harbor in a half hours time and have a longboat waiting."

"Aye, Capn'!" Gibbs said, obviously relishing being able to say it again. He turned on his heels and lumbered off toward the taverns.

Jack watched him a moment, then leaned over to Anamaria and said quietly, "Anamaria, go with him. See that he doesn't get...distracted in the taverns." 

Anamaria nodded and took off after the inebriated sailor, clearly as happy as Gibbs to be under Jack's command again, though she would surely be much more reluctant to admit it.

Will sidled up to Jack as he watched the two depart, and gave him a start when he asked. "So Jack, about that plan..."

"Oh yes!" He said brightly. "Would you like to hear what I have so far?"

"Uh, yes. Very much."

"We stop Gillette before this whole mess happens."

There was an awkward silence as Will waited for the rest of the plan. Realizing his waiting appeared to be in vain, he cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, um, that sounds good so far. Could you possibly elaborate on how you plan to do that?"

"You know," Jack said delicately holding up a finger and starting to swagger down toward the water. "I discovered an interesting tidbit during my little conversation with our friend Gillette. The ship doesn't need lightning to travel back to a place it has already been. All we have to do is make sure we have the right date and we're more or less off."

Will considered the information Jack had just told him for a moment before realizing that it didn't really answer his question. "So, if we know what we need to do and how we need to do it, why exactly don't we have a plan yet?"

"Because," said Jack, turning toward Will and, as he did so, flashing one of his most maddening grins. "there are so many possibilities to choose from."

"What?" Will stopped in his tracks, causing Elizabeth, who had been following closely behind and listening to the conversation intently, to run right into his back. After a moment of awkward mumbled apologies, they both turned back to Jack and asked him to kindly elaborate.

"Well, we could either stop Gillette right when he first discovers the ship, though I personally find that would be rather dull, then of course there's when he kidnaped you, which would be a bit better..." Jack began to tick off the options on his fingers as he named them off. "And then of course, there's when he catches the both of us when I brought you back to Port Royal, which I think would be far more interesting." Jack finished with what almost sounded like a evil little giggle.

Will, after moving his jaw up and down for a good minute or so, finally managed to find his voice. "More interesting!" he spluttered hoarsely. "Jack, this isn't a game! This is our lives we're talking about!"

Jack whirled around so his face was only inches from Will's. "Firstly, I am fully aware of the seriousness of our situation Mister Turner. I believe I was the one who saw my own grave, so I'll thank you kindly to spare me of any lecture you had prepared."Jack said in a dangerous tone. "Secondly, I am the one with the time-traveling ship, so I'll be the one who makes the decision. Agreed?"

Will could only nod meekly.

"Splendid!" Jack said, clapping his hands together and looking completely cheerful once again. "Well then, we can worry about that a bit later, we have a ship to commandeer!"

* * *

Occasionally, Will just needs to be taken down a peg. And I think I'd like to hear Jack giggle evily.


	16. Close Calls and Distractions

* * *

There will inevitably be a time in all of our lives when we find ourselves forced to make a difficult, perhaps even life-changing decision. Very few of our decisions will involve time travel. Such was the predicament Jack Sparrow was in. 

As Jack continued down towards the harbor, trying to make up his mind on exactly what to do, he started to form a sort of mental 'to do' list. First and foremost, Gillette would not get the Pearl. That scheming little coward wouldn't get his hands on the Pearl while there was still a breath in Jack's body. Secondly, Jack was pretty certain he'd get an earful from Will if he didn't work out that whole kidnaping thing, so they would have to make sure they stopped that plan before it go too out of hand. Jack knew that if it was up to Will, they would simply stop Gillette from even finding the ship to begin with. That, Jack mused, was exactly why Will was a blacksmith and he was the captain of the most feared pirate ship in the whole- well he would he again soon enough. No, Jack knew he had to let Gillette form his little plan so that he could foil it so completely that he would never dare plot against them again.

Suddenly Jack was struck with an idea. An idea so marvelously delightfully terrific that he had to pause a moment and grin. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Oh, this should be fun."

As Jack continued to refine his plan, he realized Gibbs and Anamaria would need more time to collect a crew, and Gillette would be able to find an excuse to get some soldiers together sooner or later. Something would have to be done. Jack stopped and turned to face Will and Elizabeth.

"We're going to need to buy Gibbs some time and keep Gillette occupied if we hope to succeed. I think a bit of a distraction is in order"

He rubbed his chin and moment and narrowed his eyes as if in thought, though to Will and Elizabeth, it seemed like he already had come up with an idea, and was merely doing it for show, which he was. He suddenly turned to Elizabeth and gave her one of those smiles that made her want to back away slowly and keep backing away slowly until she was far, far away from it.

"Elizabeth, darling."

"...yes?" she said in an uncharacteristically small voice.

"I'm afraid I'm going to need you to go a bit insane."

"What?"

"Crazy, mad, loony, et cetera, et cetera" Jack said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"But why on Earth would you want me to do such a thing?"

"Because if the governor's lovely wife is suddenly running around like she's lost her mind, it's bound to attract some attention, most notably that of the governor. Norrington will set every soldier on this island out to track you down and find out what the devil's gotten into you, and he won't particularly care if Gillette protests, especially if he doesn't have a good excuse for it."

Will looked contemplative for as moment. "You know, that actually might work..."

Elizabeth shot daggers at him, then fixed her gaze into an icy glare to face Jack. If Jack was bothered by having mental icicle-daggers shot at him by Elizabeth, he showed no signs of it.

"It's really the only way, love."

"But I'll never be able to show my face in Port Royal again! I'll be completely humiliated!"

"Well, if you do a good enough job, you won't have to worry about that now, will you? Jack said cheerfully.

"But…what am I supposed to do?" Elizabeth whimpered..

"Well that's the fun part." Jack said with a wink and a grin. "Be creative."

Elizabeth stood helplessly for a moment, then sighed, straightened up, and set her jaw defiantly. She took down her hair and mussed it up until it was a tangled mess. She then reached down to a nearby mud puddle and without flinching, rubbed her face, leaving great muddy streaks across it. She ripped at the lacy sleeves of her nightgown until they were a tattered mess around her arms.

"Not bad." Jack said as he walked out of a nearby stable with a drowsy looking dapple grey horse. Will, who had just stood looking rather uncomfortable as Jack had pilfered the animal, suddenly seemed to remember his gentlemanly ways of long ago and ran to Elizabeth's aid as she got up on the horse.

"Good luck." He whispered as he managed a pained smile.

Elizabeth looked down at him and returned his wavering smile with a warm one of her own. She looked down at the man who she had never really stopped loving despite trying to convince herself for years she had, and whispered. "We'll make things right."

The two looked into each other's eyes a moment longer before being snapped out of their reverie by an absurdly loud throat-clearing. Jack, who had thought he had been a rather good sport about putting up with such a nauseating display of affection, could only cross his arms and roll his eyes for so long before he had put an end to it. Besides, be reasoned, if wasn't exactly like they had all evening.

"Well then Elizabeth, do us a favor and hold off on the theatrics until you're a ways away from us, and stay clear of the fort, aye? Godspeed love." he said with mock-seriousness as he squinted up at her.

Elizabeth gave a nod, dug her heels into the still groggy horse's side, and took off.

Will watched her disappear into the night and turned to find to his surprise that Jack had nearly done the same. As soon al Elizabeth had left, Jack was already taking off in the opposite direction, and Will had to race to catch up to him. "Jack, why did you tell Elizabeth to steer clear of the fort?"

Jack sighed. "Really William, must I explain everything?"

"You...you aren't actually planning on going there, are you?"

"Unless you people keep your guns somewhere else in the future."

"But the Navy..."

They then both turned towards the sudden sounds of screaming and shouting in the other direction.

"...will be otherwise occupied." Jack finished with a grin.

Jack and Will crept silently along the wall of the fort, edging slowly towards the entrance. Jack listened intently, then held up a finger and both men stopped in their tracks and pressed their bodies against the wall as a stream of crimson clad soldiers streamed out of the wide doorway. Jack cast a disapproving glance at Will's gut, which protruded out a great deal from the rest of him and was rather hampering their stealthiness. The last of the soldiers ran though the doorway and towards the commotion, and Jack motioned Will inside.

The two made their way down to the armory. Before them was a whole array of weaponry. Jack grinned and steepled his fingers in front of him, hardly able to keep them from twitching with anticipation."Will, be a good lad and find us some horses and I'll stay here and load a wagon."

Will took off reluctantly, mumbling something about how Jack really shouldn't be able to call him a 'lad' anymore.

"There's a good lad." Jack said as be cheerfully went to work loading the nastiest looking weapons he could find. A wagon load of weaponry 20 years more advanced then where they were going would certainly an advantage.

Jack held up a rifle and murmured, "Have I got a surprise for you Gillette."

"Actually, Mister Sparrow, I believe it is I who have the surprise."

Jack's face took on a pained expression as he turned slowly to find a very large pistol aimed at him, held by none other then Gillette.

"You know Sparrow, I'm doing you a favor."

"Are you now? Much olbliged I'm sure." Jack replied, his tone mocking, despite the pistol aimed at his face. "Remind me what it is again you're doing for me, mate."

Gillette chose to ignore Jack's mocking tone and continued. "That ship is unpredictable. Dangerous. You never know where it could take you or when. It dissapeared shortly after we captured the Pearl."

"Thanks much for the warning, but I've always been one to take my chances." Jack replied, swaying just slightly and looking past Gillette.

"No Sparrow, I don't think you will." Gillette said as he cocked the pistol. His face then took on a bemused expression and he lowered the pistol just slightly. "You know, never capturing you was one of my only regrets. Of course, taking your precious ship from you did far more damage then I could have ever hoped. I only wish that your death was at the hands of the Navy."Gillette paused a moment and his face lit up. "Though I guess now it will be afterall! That ship truly is a blessing." he murmured as he took aim with the pistol once again.

"You'll be thinking very differently in the future-er, past as it were. You'll think of it as nothing but a curse." Jack then held him hand to his chest." And as a man that's dealt with more then his fair share of curses, you can trust that I know one when I see one."

"Always talking like you have every situation under control! You just grin that stupid grin of yours like you're so certain that you can get out of anything!" Gillette shouted, nearly hysterical."When will you understand Sparrow? It's over! You lost. You can't do anything to stop me!"

"You're absolutley right, mate." Jack said, flashing that infuriating grin. "But he can." Jack pointed behind Gillette, and he spun around just in time to see the thing that was about to knock him unconscious face-to-face just before it did. And by the look on his face just before it collided with a rather thick plank of wood, he also cought a glimpse of the person weilding it, too. Will decided that one look was worth all the trouble of this little adventure, even if it didn't succeed.

* * *

I was going to stop this chapter right after the "Actually, Mister Sparrow, I believe it is I who have the surprise." line, but that would have just been mean. Oh well, you could have blamed Dead Man's Chest for that cliffhanger. Damn movie's a bad influence. This was just one of those chapters you kind of need to get through to get to the fun part, but I'll hopefully have the next one up soon since I'm so excited about it. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated! 


	17. Back to the Past

This may be the last chapter I write for a bit since college is going to rear it's ugly head again soon, but I'm definately looking forward to writing the next chapter, and I think you'll see why by the end of this one.

* * *

Gillette fell to a crumpled mass at Will's feet, a large bump already starting to form on his head where Will had just smacked him with a two-by-four. 

"And that." Jack said, holding up a finger and looking every bit like a distinguished professor concluding a lecture, "is why delivering lengthy monologues to your enemy is a very bad idea."

Jack gingerly stepped over Gillette's unconscious form and headed towards Will. He was going to give him a hearty slap on the back, but upon seeing that Will was still holding the two by four and had a strange gleam in his eyes after just taking out his worst nemesis, he thought better of it and retracted his hand, curling each finger one at a time, and gave him one of his customary bows instead and went to retrieve the horses. The two of them then finished loading the weapons, including some small but rather nastily effective looking little cannons. They hitched up the horses and covered both their cargo and themselves in rags so as not to attract too much attention to themselves. Finally, before they left, they made sure Gillette would wake up nice and cozy in a little cell all his own in the fort.

As they made their way down to the water, Will couldn't help but feel nervous for Elizabeth. He was feeling terrible now that they had made her singlehandedly face the entire Navy while they snuck safely down to the harbor. He finally couldn't take it anymore, and turned to Jack. "Do you really think Elizabeth is going to be alright?"

Jack turned and opened his mouth to answer but before he could, they heard noises echoing down the street from them . They both turned to see Elizabeth barreling towards them on the street intersecting theirs. They watched wordlessly, their heads following her from right to left, as she streaked past them screaming, "Don't you know who I am? I am an ACTRESS!"

Their heads snapped back to the right to watch the string of soldiers running after her.

"Oh, I think she'll he alright."

They paused a moment in time to hear her fading voice screech."I don't deserve this kind of treatment! I'm FAMOUS YOU KNOW!"

"Very creative. I'll give her that." he added.

Jack and Will finally made it down to the harbor, and were pleasantly surprised to find that Gibbs and Anamaria had rustled up a decent amount of men, some of which actually looked like they knew what a ship was, and had two longboats ready and waiting.

"Well, done Gibbs." Jack said while swaying backwards slightly until he was out of Gibb's line of vision to give Anamaria a nod.

"Wasn't nothin' Cap'n" Gibbs said proudly. "More'n a few sailors in Port Royal are less then fond of Gillette." As if to illustrate this fact, many lifted their heads and began grumbling incoherently at the sound of Gillette's name.

Jack stood confidently before the line of men, surveying them a moment before growling,"Listen up!" He put his hands behind his back and began walking up and down the line."We are about to embark upon a mission of the utmost importance ...and weirdness. Those of you lacking the intestinal fortitude to cope with having your entire existence thrown into question had better leave now or start drinking 'til you can." Jack's hands had escaped by this time and were eagerly aiding in his speech as he paced back and forth. "Your safety is not guaranteed. I have in fact only done this once before, but if any of you detest Gillette even a small fraction as much as myself, I can assure you it will be more then worth your while. What say you?"

The men whooped and hollered and threw up their arms, which was rather unfortunate due to the fact that many were holding bottles of rum, and this caused them to splash it all over themselves, making them reek even more of rum then they had previously, if that was possible

"Got quite a way with words, hasn't he." Gibbs said, nudging Will hard in the ribs before making his way down to one of the longboats. Will had to admit, the men did seem to be genuinely excited. He quickly climbed into the first longboat, behind Jack and next to Gibbs. The men quickly loaded as many weapons an the boats would hold before they took up oars and started rowing out into the harbor.

"So Jack, where be this ship of yours?" Gibbs asked.

"Around the point on the north side of the island, but that's not where we're going." Jack answered, never taking his eyes off of what was ahead of him.

"Not to the ship, then where on Earth-" Gibbs began, but then looked up to see what Jack was staring at. "Ah, right then. The _Pearl _it is."

Will snapped his head up. "What? But Jack-"

Jack cut him off mid-sentence. "Will, did you think that there was really even the slightest chance that I would leave here without her?" he asked quietly.

Will thought a moment. "Well, no I suppose not." he sighed.

"I'll have you know that I am not doing this entirely out of spite. It's completely logical from a strategical standpoint. If Gillette manages to get out of that cell, there's no way he'll be able to catch us without it." He paused a moment, and then added brightly,"Spite is just an added incentive."

They made it out to the _Freedom/Pearl_, and were surprised to find it guarded by only a couple of drowsy and inept soldiers. Jack was naturally disgusted, and immediately went into a tirade. "Here they are with the bloody fastest ship in the whole bloody Spanish Main and they can't even go through the trouble of guarding it properly?" Gibbs actually had to yank Jack back down into his seat to keep him from rocking the longboat and causing enough commotion to wake the soldiers.

It took only a few minutes to board the ship, gently wake the soldiers and inform them their ship was being commandeered, tie them up neatly, and send them on their way in one of the longboats.

Jack surveyed the deck, his brow furrowing at all the blue and gold assaulting his eyes wherever he looked. Though the ship looked less intimidating, it still managed to look quite impressive, no matter how it happened to be dressed. Jack gave a nod to Gibbs, who immediately began barking out orders as if he had been on a the ship yesterday. Jack quietly made his way up to the helm. As he stood before the wheel, it suddenly struck him that although he himself had been on The Pearl only a few days ago, technically he hadn't set foot on this ship in twenty years. He rubbed the wheel apologetically only to be interrupted a moment later by Will.

"We're ready."

Jack tore his hand off the wheel and attempted to hide his annoyance at Will. He cast a quick look of disapproval up at the stark white sails before nodding and taking the helm once again.

Jack and the crew reached the_ Lorean_ just as the first rays of dawn were spreading over the horizon. They struck the hull of the gleaming silver ship and reflected onto the waves below in a dazzling display. Most of the crew of the _Pearl-dom_ (as Gibbs now called it) gathered at the starboard railing to catch a glimpse of the ship, and were treated to the spectacular light show. The crew looked upon the ship will silent awe, but Jack felt only relief at seeing it again. He knew that there had been no real reason to have been worried, as there had been no sign of a storm since they had anchored, but as much as he hated to admit it, Gillette's warning about the ship being unpredictable stubbornly stayed with him.

They anchored as close the _Lorean _as possible and began the arduous process of transporting as much of the _Pearl's _heavy artillery over to the _Lorean _as they could manage, as well as the weapons Jack and Will had procured from the fort. After the _Lorean_ had as many of the _Pearl's_ cannons as it's deck could hold on board, Jack ordered that the _Pearl's _sails be fully deployed. They clamored into a longboat and rowed to the anchor rope, which the ship was now straining heavily against. Jack began hacking away at the rope until it snapped from the tension and the ship broke free. He smiled in satisfaction as the ship sailed out into the open ocean, the sunlight reflecting on the golden letters spelling "Freedom" across the ships stern.

Traveling back in time to the proper year proved to be far more difficult then Gillette had made it sound. After getting some distance between themselves and Port Royal and toying around with the compass a bit, Jack discovered two important things. Firstly, that the compass was far more intricate then previously believed. There were smaller instruments beside the year odometer indicating the month and even the precise day. Secondly, there was a small pin holding the lever that would activate the time traveling in place until the odometer displayed a time the ship had previously traveled to. The pin would then retract with a sharp snap, allowing the lever to be flipped. That was simple enough, but the wind that day proved to be unpredictable, making steering the ship to the precise time needed maddingly difficult. To complicate matters even further, it was impossible to read the compass and man the helm at the same time. By mid-morning, Jack and Will had developed a system which basically consisted of Will screaming out the readings of the compass while Jack frantically tried to crank the wheel in the necessary direction. Every time they got close, a sudden gust of wind would alter the ships course just slightly, just before Will could flip the leaver. After a few hours of this, both Jack and Will were at their wit's and the rest of the crew was on edge.

"Left a bit more."Will said, his bloodshot eyes just inches from the compass."Little more." Jack growled but complied, turning the wheel just slightly to the left.

"Almost there, alllllmost there. Allllmmmmmooooosssssttttt."

That was it. Jack threw his arms up in the air in exasperation. "Bloody Hell! Just keep your mouth shut, and when the damn thing gets close flip-" Jack wasn't able to finish his sentence however, as just then the universe dropped out from under them.

They were hurtling through time and space. Their brains turned themselves inside-out and began turning somersaults inside their skulls. They did a lap around the galaxy before unceremoniously being plopped back down into the ocean on a sunny Caribbean day sometime just between late morning and early afternoon, twenty years in the past.

"-the lever"Jack finished. His eyes were glazed over and swaying quite violently, even for him.

Will, who was laying spread eagled on the deck just a few feet away could only manage, "Hmaa." in reply. Jack decided, after several minutes of staggering around deck trying to remember where he left his brain, that he was glad he wasn't conscious for his first trip though time.

After a good half an hour of recovery, the crew finally seemed ready to sail, though there were still some murmurs that Saturn was trying to attack the ship off the port side, which led to an argument about whether it was actually Saturn, or Jupiter flying Saturn's colors in an attempt to deceive them, and this only led to further arguments from a small faction of the crew that believed it to be neither Jupiter or Saturn, but a pod of disgruntled narwhales that were coming to collect the money that was owed them from a card game.

Will managed to stumble up to the helm and took a deep breath before attempting a coherent sentence. "Now what?" He paused a moment to make sure it made sense, and then smiled in satisfaction when he realized that indeed it did.

"Now," Jack replied, a bit better off then the rest of the crew thanks to his previous, albeit unconscious trip though time, "We find the one man with strategy, skill, and creativity to defeat Gillette and save all our futures."

---

Jack Sparrow was in his cabin, maps and charts in front of him, bottle of rum at his side and the_ Black Pearl_ underneath his feet. This would normally have put him in an exceptionally good mood, as this usually meant he was plotting the _Pearl's _nextprofitable endeavor, but tonight he was plotting a very different course, and it put him in a very different mood.

"Bloody stupid Will. I leave him with a bloody fairytale ending, and he up and gets himself bloody kidnaped." Jack growled as he tried to figure a way to drop Will back off at Port Royal without the _Pearl_ being spotted. He asked himself for the hundredth time that evening why he was even bothering helping Will, but he already knew the answer. Will had risked his life to save Jack, and as happy as he was to forget the incident and go about his life, now that he had a chance to repay Will, he knew that bloody conscious of his wouldn't let him live with himself if he didn't.

Jack reached for his trusty bottle only to realize it was empty. Groaning, he slammed his head down rather hard right on top of the maps he had just been studying and didn't lift it up even when there was a tentative knock at the door. "Aye?"he said, his voice muffled under the layers of papers on his desk.

"Uh, Captain?" Came the voice of Gibbs in the doorway. "Jack?"

Jack finally lifted his head to look up, and found Gibbs to be squinting at him, rubbing his eyes and blinking rapidly. He suddenly dashed to the door, peeked out for a moment as if to confirm something, and slowly came back shaking his head. "There's a ship outside and there's-uh, there's someone requesting to see you Capn'."

Jack's brows furrowed. "Who is it?"

Gibbs seemed reluctant to answer a moment before finally closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"You."

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I'm hoping that I'm the first person in history to refrence a YTMND in a POTC fanfic. I hope you're all as excited for the next chapter as I am WEEE! Please let me know what you thought, even you people that have been reading but haven't reviewed yet. Yeah you too! Come on, I know you're out there!  



	18. A Tale of Two Captains

I'm really, truly, deeply sorry. I can't believe it took me this long to update this thing. I feel especially terrible since last chapter got the most reviews so far and I was so grateful for them. So naturally I show my appreciation by not updating for a half a year. In my defense, I really want to make sure all the continuity matches up, which is difficult enough in a regular story, let alone one with about three seperate time periods that are all interacting with one another. Well, enough apologies and excuses, and on with the story!

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Jack stared intently at Gibbs a moment, trying to figure out what he had to drink to cause him to hallucinate like that, and where he could get some. As he pondered this, a very peculiar thing happened. He heard himself shouting. Jack was the first to admit he was a bit tipsy, the empty bottle on his desk clear evidence of this, but he was fairly certain he hadn't just opened his mouth. When this phenomenon happened a second time, Jack wasted no time in flying around his desk and hurtling past Gibbs towards the door. He paused a moment, not sure he was entirely prepared to see what lay on the other side of the worn wood. 

Jack turned and gave Gibbs a final 'here goes nothing' look before flinging open the door.

He was met once again with the sound of his own voice, much louder and clearer and most undoubtedly his."What do you bloody mean 'How did I leave my cabin and get on this ship?' I wasn't in the cabin! The other me is! Really, how hard is this to understand?"

Jack emerged from the door and cleared the staircase to see the silvery grey masts of a much smaller ship bobbing next to them. It must have been exceptionally fast, for no one appeared to have noticed it in time to notify him. That, he mused, or the fact that he told the entire crew he was not to be bothered under any circumstances while fixing them all with the iciest stare he could muster before going into his cabin to plot their course.

"I will explain this one more time," he heard his own voice continue as he slunk up to the railing in a apprehensive and rather exaggerated fashion, the smaller ship finally coming into view. " I need to see mysel-"the voice cut off as Jack peered over the railing and directly into his own eyes.

There was a collective gasp as both crews realized their Captain was on each of the ships.

Jack Sparrow, the Jack of the _Lorean _that is, stopped talking mid-sentence, his mouth open and his eyes wide as his spitting image appeared at the railing of the _Pearl_. The Jack aboard the _Pearl _quickly mirrored his dumbfounded expression.

"My God," He whispered as he stared up himself. Will, who had been just as awe-struck as everyone else, heard Jack and quickly tried to recover and help the pirate through this strange ordeal. He was about to place a supportive hand on Jack's shoulder and ask if he was feeling alright when Jack finished his sentence. "Am I really that dashing?"

The hand that was destined for Jack shoulder made a sharp detour to Will's forehead. "I had always suspected, but you don't really know 'till it's staring you right in the face. How on Earth did Elizabeth manage to resist me? Will, you really must commend her on her willpower the next time you two meet." Will's hand slowly slid down his face. Jack however took absolutely no notice of this, and continued, throwing his arms up himself. "Just look at that devilishly handsome rogue."

"I am looking at him." Came a voice from the other ship. The _Pearl's _Jack had taken slightly longer to get over the shock of seeing himself, since it was entirely unexpected, but the other Jack's barrage of compliments seemed to work wonders for him, and he was recovering from the shock rather nicely. "And I must say that I agree with every word, mate."

Both Jacks stood for a moment grinning madly at each other until the Jack onboard the _Lorean _was interrupted by a rather hard elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Will.

"Ouch! Oh, yes. Captain, my deepest and most sincere apologies for what I can only assume to be a rather shocking and unsettling interruption, but I have an immensely important matter to discuss with you."

"But of course." replied the other Jack, leaning slightly over the railing. "This should be interesting."

Jack, Will, Anamaria and Gibbs all made their way up the Black Pearl and onto the deck of the ship. Though the the _Pearl_ Jack had coped with seeing himself rather well at first, the effect was naturally amplified when said self was mere inches away. That coupled with his ever increasing sobriety made for a very bewildered and agitated pirate Captain. He, along with the rest of the _Pearl's_ crew, kept their distance from Jack, Gibbs, Will, and Anamaria, as if getting to close would cause some sort of tear in the fabric of reality and suck them into oblivion. That, or they merely thought it would be bad luck. Finally _Pearl _Jack, ever the brave and gallant Captain, took a step forward, paused a moment, and gave his counterpart a good poke. He retracted his finger immediately and watched carefully, but the other Jack merely swayed backwards a bit before righting himself. Satisfied that he did not pop, ignite, explode, or get offended, the _Pearl_ Jack waved his hand in a gesture that seemed to signify both his approval and that he was ready for an explanation, which _Lorean_ Jack was only too happy to supply.

"Once again Captain, my sincerest apologies, but this visit is unfortunately entirely necessary." Jack said, placing a hand on his chest and bowing slightly. Will couldn't help but notice that he had never heard Jack speak to anyone with such respect. _'Figures'_ he thought, rolling his eyes while Jack continued. "As...upsetting as I'm sure this all is, there really is a profoundly simple explanation. You see, I'm the you from your past that accidentally traveled to our future and found that events in the past, that is to say events in our future, but the past from where I was in our future, lead to our demise. Upon realizing this, I found a crew in the present, that is to say, our future that I was presently in, and traveled back to my future and your present so that I can save both our futures allowing me to safely return to your past which is my present."

A rather long pause ensued after this explanation in which the crews from both ships, Will, Gibb, Ana, _Pearl _Jack, and interestingly enough, the Jack that had just offered the explanation stood and attempted to make some sense of what they had just heard. After a minute or so of this silence, Jack, brows knitted in concentration, looked toward to the edge of the group congregated on the deck and noticed someone in particular who had just come up from below decks to find out what the commotion was about. The young man looked stunned, and rightly so, at what he saw. Jack gave the slightest of smiles and cleared his throat. "We're here to keep that," he said, pointing to the young and quite dumbfounded William Turner, "from turning into this." Jack flung both arms over to the old, wretched Will. Jack grinned as this explanation seemed to register with everyone. Meanwhile his two hapless visual aids locked eyes from across the ship. Young Will paled visibly and gulped.

"How long have they been in there for?"

"By my best estimation, at least three hours."

Both Young and Old Will winced as identical roars of laughter emanated from the Captain's cabin for the umpteenth time that evening.

"You think they'll ever actually get down to formulating a plan?"

"Eventually. It only stands to reason that they'll run out of stories sooner or later."

The two Turners found themselves sitting side by side on the stairs near the Captain's cabin after a long and eventful afternoon. After the time-traveling Sparrow's explanation of his presence, the two captains quickly agreed that a plan needed to be formulated, and wasted no time in swaggering into the cabin and slamming the door behind them. This left behind a rather awkward situation for the six people on deck that had alternate versions of themselvesThe three future versions of Will, Gibbs, and Anamaria stood together on the deck and slowly their counterparts emerged from the group to examine them. The younger Anamaria took one slow walk around her older, exhausted looking future self, scrutinizing her carefully while both crews held their breath. She finally grumbled, "Leave it to Jack Sparrow to leave us in such a damned bizarre situation."

"Exactly!" The older Anamaria nearly shouted. "Only he could manage something this ridiculous!" and before anyone knew it the two had stalked off together, complaining about what a damned fool Jack Sparrow was.

The next to examine their future counterpart was Gibbs, who looked down at his worn, scruffy, unkept self and then to his worn, scruffy, unkept, slightly older looking future self and gave a gruff nod of approval before handing him a bottle, and the two rather happily went off looking for a place to share it.

Finally, Will was left alone in the circle, surrounded by various crew members. He watched as the men quietly separated until he was face to face with his twenty-year younger self. He noticed the emotions playing across the younger man's face. Hesitation, shock, and ultimately, much to his own dismay, disgust. After an eternity, the younger man spoke. "I refuse to believe you're me. I would never let something like this happen to myself."

The older Will actually snorted at this. "You'd be surprised what you'd let happen."

Young Will balled up his fits and clenched his teeth. "I wouldn't just let Elizabeth go! I wouldn't give up and run away! I wouldn't-"

"Don't you dare try to tell me what you would have done or to presume you've had any idea what I've been through" Old Will growled, his eyes narrowing. "You haven't the slightest idea of the hardships I've had to endure."

"You took the life I worked so hard for and threw it away!" Young Will's temper gave way and he unsheathed his sword and pointed it directly at the heart of his older self, who responded by doing the same thing albeit slower.

The commotion on deck finally reached the Captain's cabin an irritated Jack stuck his head out to pinpoint the source of the trouble, and shouted "Honestly, can you two not be left alone for five minutes without doing something incredibly stupid?" This was immediately followed by the other Jack sticking his head out directly above the first and adding, "Everyone else is getting along perfectly, now if you two could avoid killing each other and throwing our lives into jeopardy, we may just be able to formulate a plan that will save all our skins." They each shot a dark glare out at the embarrassed Wills before pulling their heads back in and slamming the door.

The two men looked at the door and then back at each other, and shamefully bowed their heads. The crew, realizing that there was no longer a chance to watch the past and future versions of the same man try to disembowel himself, wandered off to their respective ships to ready them and attempt to get some rest.

"I apologize for my actions." Young Will finally managed to mumble, staring at the worn deck of the ship.

"You have every right to be upset. I would've done the exact same thing in your position." said Old Will, adding after a moment of thought. "Though I suppose that's a bit obvious."

"It's just that suddenly seeing that everything that could have possibly gone wrong has is a bit...unsettling."

"Unsettling? You don't know the half of it. Imagine waking up to see a man that's been dead for near twenty years screaming a few inches from your face..." The two men walked off across the deck together, the older filling in the younger on the events that had recently transpired.

After an afternoon of getting one another caught up and checking over both ships numerous times to make sure they were ready to sail, the two Wills finally found there wasn't much left to do but wait for the Jacks to finish formulating a plan, and so they found themselves sitting together on the stairs, their patience gradually ebbing away.

"Perhaps their plan is to just not show up and leave no one for Gillette to ambush." Young Will said sarcastically, leaning backwards on the stairs to stretch out his stiff back.

"If only." Old Will said ruefully. "If there's one thing we can count on, it's that Jack won't let Gillette get off that easy."

Suddenly both the men were nearly knocked off the stairs by the force of the cabin's door being thrown open and both Captain Jack Sparrows emerging triumphantly. Both stepped forward to address the crew, and immediately bowed to let the other speak.

"My sincerest apologies Captain, do go on."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Captain. Please do us the honor."

"I couldn't possibl-"

"Oh would one of you just get on with it already!" Both Wills shouted in unison, staring at each other in surprise afterward.

One Jack then narrowed his eyes at the two Wills while the other spoke.

"After hours of painful deliberation and strategizing of the most thorough and exhausting sort-" At this the other Jack paused from his glaring to discreetly hide what looked suspiciously like a bottle under his sash, "-we have devised a plan that is so brilliant and artfully composed, that only the most adept and ingenious of naval masterminds could even the attempt to appreciate or fathom it."

"So what is it?" Young Will asked eagerly.

"We're gonna surprise Gillette, and then blow the bejeezus out of him with our cannons." Said the other Jack as he finished hiding the empty bottle.

"Some spectacular plan." Old Will mumbled and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I told you he wouldn't be able to appreciate or fathom it." one Jack said, shaking his head at the other.

"It takes an enlightened individual to realize that it's brilliant in it's simplicity."The other Jack agreed.

"Whatever the plan, we had better get moving if we ever hope succeed with it." Older Will said to the two captians. They both nodded in agreement and began barking out orders to the crew.

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Thanks to everyone who's still reading and reviewing. I promise I'll try my hardest to get the next chapter out faster!

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